


Loose Lips

by NerdofSpades



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Barbara Finds Out, Canon Divergent, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Draal is alive, F/M, Luthor is a dick, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Survivor Guilt, discussion of trauma, secret keeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2019-07-17 12:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 71,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16095323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdofSpades/pseuds/NerdofSpades
Summary: Batman wants answers. Jim wants to be left alone, so he can go back to his not so normal life. Too bad those two things aren't at all compatible with each other. At least Jim gets some new friends out of all of this. Probably. Maybe.





	1. Chapter 1

Batman was fine with waiting- he and Robin handled stakeouts on a regular basis- but he was getting a little tired of waiting for this kid to come home. It was nearing 11:30 and he was supposed to be home by 6:00 at the latest. His physical therapy had ended at 3:00, but Dr. Lake had expected him to hang out with his friends afterwards. If he hadn't been convinced that Jim Lake was involved in something before he came here, he certainly was now.

A small motor and a single headlight approached the house as the garage door opened. "Finally," Barbara muttered. She had been getting more and more anxious the longer Batman stayed. The engine and light cut out just as the Vespa passed the house, allowing Jim to gently coast into the driveway. The door opened.

"James Lake Junior! Where have you been!"

"Oh, uh, hi, Mom." The teenager sounded more nervous than Batman would've expected from someone who got caught in the middle of a fight that looked like it could very well have leveled the city. "We lost track of time. I'm really sorry." Jim cut off whatever platitudes would have come next as he noticed the large man dressed in black standing in his living room. "Ummmmm, hi?"

"I'm glad to see you got home safely, Mr. Lake," Batman said.

"Yeah… I mean, Arcadia's not all that dangerous." Jim shrugged and put his bag on the banister. "So, uh, what brings you here?"

"The Justice League has been meaning to talk to you for a few months now, but we thought we should give you time to heal."

"A few months?" Barbara questioned.

"What happened a few mo-"

"June," Batman supplied.

"Since June? Why Ju- Oh. Right. But why is that a Justice League issue?" Jim looked genuinely confused. Either he wasn't involved, was even further in over his head than Batman had originally suspected or was a really good liar.

Batman quirked a brow even though Jim wouldn't be able to see it through the mask. "Damages throughout the city, piles of rubble from nowhere, and all of the cameras mysteriously out? It looks a lot like there was a full battle waged here and carefully covered up. And then there's you. Found in the rubble of the museum. The only person seriously hurt. I think you can understand why we might be interested in you."

"Jim would never-"

"I don't- I'm not- I don't know anything!"

"I didn't mean to imply your son was a villain, Dr. Lake. Quite the opposite, in fact. But we do think he's in over his head."

"Wait. You think that I'm a hero?"

Batman simply looked at Jim.

"Okay. I mean. I'm flattered. Or, I would be if I was. But I'm not. I don't even really remember what happened. So, um. Thanks? But you're wrong?"

Batman resisted the urge to sigh. Barely. "You remember nothing?"

"Yes," Barbara answered, "Jim had a bit of a concussion. Retrograde amnesia from brain injuries isn't all that uncommon."

Batman had seen Jim's medical records when poking into things the first time a few days after the event, but he hadn't heard anything about amnesia. And that complicated things. "Even if you weren't directly involved," he began, "and can't remember what happened, you were still there. And those responsible for this… attack may have seen you and will want to clean up any loose ends. They were careful and clean. You are a witness and, therefore, a threat to them."

Both Lakes paled. "Some witness I am," Jim grumbled.

"The League wants to make sure you're safe. Originally that was going to be by offering formal training and a place on a covert team, but this changes things. I can still offer some training to help you protect yourself, but I would also like to add regular check ins and a direct line to the League for emergency use only in place of the covert operations."

Jim laughed nervously. "I don't think the training is really necessary…"

Batman nodded slowly. "A League member will be back in two days to finalize details and show you where to go for your check ins. Is there any time in particular that would be best?"

Jim glanced at his mom. "Um, around 3:30 works for me."

"Are you sure, Jim? What about your friends?"

"I've been hanging out with them a lot, Mom. I think they'll understand if I don't see them for one day."

"Since that's settled," Batman interrupted, "I will see you then." He swept out of the house, cape flowing behind him.

An awkward silence filled the room after he left, until Jim broke it. "How long was he-"

"Since 4:30," Barbara answered. "Do you know how nerve wracking it is to have the Dark Knight in your living room and nothing to do. For seven hours. Jim, I had to feed him. You know I can't cook! And take out! For Batman!"

Jim winced. "Words cannot express how sorry I am, Mom. Really." After another moment of silence. "So, uh, I'm going to go to bed now."

Barbara sighed. "Alright. I love you, Jim."

"I love you, too, Mom."

 

* * *

 

Two days later Jim was home with time to spare and Batman, or maybe someone else from the Justice League, arrived in civilian clothes at 3:30 on the dot.

A large grin crossed the blond man's face. Definitely not Batman. "Ah, you're ready. C'mon then."

Jim gave his mom a quick hug goodbye, slung his bag over his shoulder, and followed the man out of his house. "So… where are we going? And who are you?"

"Huh? Oh, right. There's an alleyway not too far from here. You'd probably bike there normally, but we'll walk today. And you can call me Barry for now. Beyond that, let's just say I'm very fast." Barry looked proud of himself. Jim was significantly less impressed.

As they walked Barry chatted away happily and Jim mostly ignored him. A few noncommittal grunts here and there and the older hero was thoroughly convinced Jim was paying attention. Instead Jim was going over the instructions Blinky had given him, which more or less boiled down to the usual "don't tell them anything." Jim wasn't exactly surprised. The trolls still didn't want humans knowing about them and they were mostly hoping that if Jim denied long enough and they got no new evidence, the League would eventually leave it alone. Claire and Toby were slightly more concerned, but in the end, everyone agreed they could pull it off and they got all of their stories straight.

"Well, here we are!"

Jim jerked out of his thoughts and glanced around his surroundings. They were indeed in an alleyway. It was actually one Jim recognized which saved him the embarrassment of admitting he wasn't paying attention. There was one difference, though. An old photo booth had been added, carefully styled to look like it had been abandoned there years ago. If Jim hadn't known the alleys of Arcadia, he would've assumed it had always been there. "So," Jim said, "what now?"

"Now," Barry responded with a grin on his face, "you get into the booth."

Jim stared at him, then looked at the photo booth, pretending he didn't know it was a new addition.

"C'mon! Trust me!"

Jim hesitated, then climbed in, carefully avoiding some of the more disgusting looking stains. "Okay… now what?"

"Computer, designate: James Lake Junior, A-1-4."

A blue light burst from the camera and scanned Jim, startling him. When nothing else happened, Jim looked to Barry for instructions.

"Now say, 'James Lake, A-1-4, Mount Justice.'"

Jim felt his eyebrows rise. He was going to Mount Justice? He was pretty sure the Justice League had abandoned it after Joker found the place and exposed them. Apparently not.

"Um… alright then." Jim turned back to the camera. "James Lake, A-1-4, Mount Justice."

The light appeared and scanned over him again. Then a second light, yellow this time, enveloped him. As it did, Jim felt an odd tingling sensation and heard a computerized voice say, "Recognized. James Lake Junior, A-1-4." As the light faded Jim realized he was standing, rather than sitting, and in a completely different place. The room was large and empty, with a few hallways branching off. Turning around Jim saw a large tube-like thing extending into the wall behind him, the sides of which were covered in mechanical bits and pieces which had begun to move and glow with yellow light. Realizing what was about to happen, Jim hoped out of the way.

"Recognized. Flash, 0-4," the computer spoke again as some of the light coalesced into a human form where Jim had been standing. The light faded, the tube thing stopped moving, and Barry, The Flash, stepped out.

"So, how was your first trip by Zeta Tube?" he asked.

"Weird," Jim answered. "So, this is Mount Justice? Thought you guys abandoned it."

"We did. Called it back into service and got it cleaned up when the Team started up."

"The Team?"

"You'll see. Batman was supposed to meet us here…"

"Maybe he got held up with some battle in Gotham?" Jim used the term battle loosely. Having been in battles, he would put most general hero work into the category of skirmishes. The ones that did make national or international news counted for battles, otherwise… skirmish.

"Maybe. Or he might be trying to make a dramatic entrance."

Jim laughed at that. He could easily imagine the brooding Dark Knight sulking around a corner, waiting for them to arrive so he could sweep in with his cape billowing behind him. On the other hand, the image was so silly, it almost felt stupid. Jim could still see it happening, though. Even the most serious heroes need to get their laughs somewhere.

A gust of wind and a streak of red signaled Flash leaving before barely a second later a streak of yellow entered, with a streak of red entering again from another direction. Flash stopped next to Jim again looking confused, and the yellow streak stopped in the doorway revealing a teenage redhead dressed in civilian clothing that Jim quickly classified as Kid Flash.

"Hey, Wally," Barry greeted, "have you seen Batman around?"

"He left a few minutes ago. I think there was a problem," he glanced at Jim, "at the Hall."

Barry nodded and turned back to Jim. "Guess you're just going to have to hang out for a while until he gets back." Another group of five teens entered the room. "Hey, guys. This is Jim. He's going to hang out with you guys until Batman gets back. Gotta go. Oh, and, Jim! Make sure you're alone before using the Zeta Tubes."

"Okay," Jim answered as the computer announced Flash again, the Zeta Tube lit up, and he was gone. Jim turned back to the other teenagers and looked at them a bit more closely.

The easiest for him to recognize despite the civvies was Aqualad with his darker skin and pale hair. He was fairly certain the buff boy with black hair, blue eyes, and Superman's symbol on his shirt wasn't wearing the shirt simply because he liked Superman, even if he didn't remember Superman having a kid. Now that he thought of it, there were more teens here than he remembered there ever being proteges. He could be fairly certain that the girl with green skin was a Martian. The shorter boy with the sunglasses was probably Robin, but he couldn't recognize the last girl with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

The teens and Jim stared at each other awkwardly. "Hi?" Jim said as he started to cross the room.

"Hello!" the Martian girl greeted as she floated up to him. "I'm M'gann. You can also call me Miss Martian. Or Miss M. Or Megan. That's a human name."

"It is…" Jim was not certain how to handle someone this… cheerful and open. "But would you prefer M'gann or Megan?"

"It doesn't really matter."

"Most of us use M'gann unless we're out in public," said probably Robin, "and I'm Robin, in case you didn't recognize me in civvies."

Jim nodded to him then shifted his gaze to the larger boy.

"Superboy," he grunted.

"It's nice to meet you."

"I am Aqualad, but my friends call me Kaldur." He gestured to the remaining girl. "This is Artemis, and I am assuming you already know Wally is Kid Flash." He nodded to Wally over Jim's shoulder.

"Yeah," Jim chuckled nervously.

"So, uh, what now?" Robin asked once introductions were done.

Jim shrugged. "Maybe you could show me around?"

M'gann perked up. "That's a great idea! C'mon! This way!" She grabbed Jim's arm and pulled him down the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim chats with the Team and Batman finalizes their arrangement.

“And that’s everything!” M’gann said as they returned to the sitting room. The tour had been nice and eventually most of the teens started adding in their own commentary, jokes, and snappy comments.

“So, Jim, are you joining the Team?” Wally asked as he took a seat in one of the chairs. The others followed his example, except for M’gann who drifted into the kitchen.

Artemis smacked his arm. “No, Kid Idiot. He’s got an A designation, not a B. He’s a guest.”

“Yeah,” Jim laughed, “I’m no hero.”

“Batman thought you were,” Robin cut in.

“Batman was mistaken.”

Wally snorted. “You try telling him that.”

“I did.”

The teens looked at him.

“You told Batman he was wrong.” Wally looked impressed.

Jim shrugged. “Well, he was. I’m just some kid that got hurt.”

“Then why are you here?” Artemis asked.

Jim gave a nervous smile. “Batman thinks someone might come after me. Something about me being a witness even though I don’t remember what happened.”

“You do not remember?” Kaldur frowned.

“Yeah, retrograde amnesia from the concussion.” Jim glanced over at M’gann. “Do you want any help? I’m pretty good in the kitchen.”

“No, I’m fine,” she smiled at him. “And anyway, the last time someone tried to help, I forgot they weren’t a Martian and covered Superboy in the ingredients.”

Jim laughed. “That’s a pretty good reason to stay out of someone’s kitchen. But really, if you need any help, just ask.”

“I will.”

“Recognized. Batman, 0-2.”

“Here we go,” Jim muttered as he stood.

The Team also rose, and they walked to the training and mission room together. When they arrived, Batman was talking to Black Canary.

“Mr. Lake,” he said.

Canary turned to look at him.

“Hey,” Jim responded.

“You must be Jim. I hope you didn’t mind waiting for Batman to get back.” Black Canary smiled and held out her hand.

“That’s me,” Jim shook her hand, “and it was no big deal.”

“We shouldn’t waste any more time. Your phone.” Batman held out his hand.

Jim chose not to argue or ask questions. Just get through the day and hope Batman wasn’t going to put a bug on his phone. Maybe they should invest in burners or backups? Batman took the phone and fiddled with it for a second, then handed it back.

“That number is for emergency use only. Anything else and I will make your life significantly more difficult than it needs to be.”

Jim nodded, glancing at the contact Batman had added, labeled “JL,” and just barely resisted rolling his eyes.

“You will check in here at least once a week, measured from your last visit. On the eighth day with no contact, someone will come find you. Am I understood.”

“Show up every seven days or I’m in trouble, got it.” Jim frowned in thought. “M’gann, your cookies should be done soon.”

“My cookies!” she flew out of the room.

“Anything else?” Jim asked.

“If you change your mind about the training, the invitation is always open. Any questions?”

“I’ve got one,” Wally said, raising his hand like he was in class. “What happened?”

“We don’t know. Mr. Lake, do you have any questions?”

“No.”

Batman nodded and left without another word. “Recognized. Batman, 0-2.”

“Alright, Team, time for training. Jim, if you want to stay and watch, you can, or you can go home.”

“I think I’ll head home. See you guys in a week.”

A chorus of “bye”s and “see ya”s filled the air as Jim turned to the Zeta Tubes. It took a second to get the coordinates set, but once he did and the machine powered up, he was off. “Recognized. James La-”

 

* * *

 

Jim staggered through the blasts of fire, crossbow bolts, and random rocks. After his stint in the hospital and physical therapy, Blinky and the others had decided that they should start with working Jim through the basics again until they thought he was up to par. During his therapy they had refused to let him do more than walk around in his armor or swing the sword around a few times to try and get his strength back. To keep him occupied Strickler and Nomura would work with him on Changeling history and culture or play random games of chess and Blinky had Jim going much more in depth on Troll history. Either way, Jim was still recovering even if the hospital therapists had given him a clean bill of health yesterday.

A rock hit Jim from behind, and the Forge ground to a stop.

“Perhaps a break is in order,” Blinky called from the side where he had been observing the chaos.

“Really, Young Atlas, you can do better than that!”

“Shut up, Waltolomew,” Jim panted from the floor as he rolled onto his back.

Toby and Claire grabbed Jim’s arms and pulled him up into a sitting position as he dismissed his armor.

“No, he’s right,” Toby said. “You’re distracted today. What’s up?”

“Guess I’m thinking about the League,” Jim said as Claire sat down next to him.

“Dude, you still haven’t told us about what happened on Sunday. What was it like?” Toby almost seemed giddy at the prospect of learning more about the Justice League.

“They’re still using Mount Justice,” Jim said. “And they’ve got a team of teenagers hanging out there. I think some of them live there.”

“But what about the League? Did you meet any of them?” Claire asked excitedly.

“Batman was there. I briefly met Black Canary and the Flash.”

“C’mon, dude! What were they like? Give us the deets!” Toby said.

“Perhaps you should share,” Strickler said, “after all, ‘know thy enemy’ is an important part of any strategy.”

“They’re not our enemy.” Everyone stared at him. “Okay, so they’re not exactly our friends either, but I thought the whole point of this was to keep them from fighting us.”

“That may be true, but we should still be prepared for the eventuality,” Blinky reminded him.

“But seriously,” Toby continued, “Batman’s scary right?”

“Not really,” Jim answered. “I mean, yeah, I’m afraid of him because of Rule Number One and he’s the World’s Greatest Detective prying into my life and he could probably kick my ass in a fight. But the whole ‘Dark Knight of Gotham’ and the brooding and all that? That’s all posturing. He plays it up to try and make people fear him and stuff like that. It would be like if I went around always wearing the helmet and never saying anything to try and seem super mysterious. It’s an act. Kinda makes it a little harder to take it seriously.”

“Really?” Claire sounded like she was about to laugh.

“Yeah, I was honestly more afraid when he turned up in my house because I wasn’t expecting him. Now that I know he’s looking and how to handle it…” Jim shrugged. “He doesn’t seem as intimidating.”

“But what about Black Canary?” Claire asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

“She seemed nice, but I didn’t spend much time with her. Flash is chatty.”

“Wonderful observations, Young Atlas, though I will challenge you to pay more attention next time and try and bring back even more information.”

“Wait,” Jim started, “how much did the Janus Order know about the League? I mean, other than the Trollhunter, the League would be the biggest threat to Gunmar’s rise, right?”

“Right on the money, Little Gynt,” Nomura spoke as she entered the Forge. “The Janus Order actually considered the League as a whole to be a bigger threat than the Trollhunter most of the time. Although the Trollhunter was the much more immediate problem.”

“Indeed,” Strickler spoke, “the Order had detailed plans to remove every member of the League and avoid interference from the Green Lantern Corps. We even managed to identify quite a few of the League’s civilian identities and obtain large quantities of kryptonite.”

The teens said nothing as they processed the new information.

“So, you’re just asking these questions to test me,” Jim said. “Am I getting that right?”

“Quite right, Young Atlas. And to get you to share pertinent information with your friends. I suggest spending most of the day with the Team next time. Or you can slowly work your way up to that. Either way, you need to get close to them.”

“But isn’t that what Batman wants? He’s probably using them to try and get a read on me.”

“Then don’t let them.”

“Rest done,” Aaarrrgghh interrupted.

“Indeed, Aaarrrgghh. Master Jim, done your armor and we will begin again. With more focus this time!” Blinky activated the Forage before anyone could properly react.

Jim groaned and hopped to his feet, armor appearing over his body in a flash as his friends scurried to the edges of the arena to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Team gets to chatting, Jim tells them about Rule Number One and has a few regrets by the end of the day.

“Recognized. James Lake Junior, A-1-4.”

Jim glanced at the ceiling the speakers seemed to be mounted on. “Is it going to say that every time?” he muttered.

“Yeah, at least until you change it.”

Jim jerked and glanced back down to the room in front of him. Robin was standing there in his civvies. “Do you always scare people like that?”

“Yes.”

Jim chose not to respond to that and started walking to the kitchen.

“You might not wanna go in there.”

Jim gave Robin a confused look.

“Wally and Artemis are arguing again. He doesn’t believe in magic, and she thinks he should be a bit more open minded considering he wore the Helmet of Fate.”

“He wore the Helmet of Fate?”

“Briefly. The last owner had just died, and it was under attack, so he put it on in a last-ditch attempt to protect it. Nabu almost didn’t let him go.”

“What!?”

“He didn’t appreciate being hidden away with no influence on the world for so long. Kinda decided to take matters into his own hands until Kent Nelson’s ghost convinced him to let Wally go. Kinda concerned about us just leaving the Helmet in the Souvenir Room.”

Jim blinked at Robin. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You met me last week. We hung out for an hour, tops. Shouldn’t this kinda stuff be… I don’t know. Classified or something?”

Robin shrugged. “Technically the Team is classified and so is the Cave and so are our names. You’re already in the loop.”

Jim shook his head slightly. “C’mon. They might be done by now.”

Robin cackled. “Oh, they won’t be.”

“Misery loves company. At least we can make things a little easier for everyone else.”

Robin only laughed louder as he followed Jim through the halls.

As predicted, Wally and Artemis were still fighting.

“It just rewrote my beta waves! How many times do I have to say it!”

“And mind telling me how we wound up in a pocket dimension? It doesn’t make any sense!”

“Hey, Jim!” M’gann greeted from the kitchen. “How’s your week been?”

“Pretty good. The hospital therapists finally cleared me.”

“Therapists?” Kaldur interjected worriedly.

"Physical therapists. The, uh, collapsing building did a number on me, and I’m back to full health.”

The Team members that were listening looked mildly concerned. Pretty much everyone was ignoring Wally and Artemis.

“Do you believe in magic?” M’gann asked.

_I wield a sword made out of daylight, my best friend has a collapsible warhammer with an on-again-off-again relationship with gravity, and my girlfriend can make portals to almost anywhere as long as she knows where she’s going or has an emotional connection to something on the other side. Of course, I believe in magic._ Jim shrugged. “Wasn’t aware that was up for debate. I mean, the League has members, allies, and enemies that are magicians. Sure, some of them are using fancy tricks, but others… there’s a lot that we can’t explain.”

“Try telling that to him,” Superboy grumbled as he winced. Super hearing and loud arguments did not mix well.

Jim glanced at M’gann’s mixing bowl and grinned. “I think I have a better idea. He likes food, right?”

“He’ll eat practically anything,” Robin answered, “what’s your plan?”

“Do you mind if I invade your kitchen for a bit, M’gann?”

“Go ahead, but what are you going to make?”

Jim grinned. “No matter how good it smells or looks, don’t eat it.” With that said, he set to work gathering the necessary ingredients. As he worked the Team made small talk and Jim wound up inevitably introducing them to the term “crispy” by accident and promptly turned red as a tomato and refused to explain. In return the teens introduced him to Robin’s unnatural ability to butcher the English language. Within half an hour, delicious smells were filling the room.

“Gah,” Wally said as he wandered over, officially distracted from his argument, “what is that wondrous smell.”

“It’s a surprise,” Jim said. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

“How much longer?” Artemis asked. “‘Cause, as much as I hate it, Wally’s right. It smells amazing.”

“At least fifteen more minutes.”

Wally groaned but settled in to wait with everyone else. Jim kept a close eye on him. Wally had super speed and an appetite to challenge a troll’s, it was going to take careful planning and preparation to keep him from sneaking a taste. But it paid off. Jim could see Wally’s gears turning as he weighed his options and the exact moment when the teen decided it was worth it. If not for that, he would never have managed to hit the speedster.

“Ow!” Wally yelped in surprise.

“I told you. Fifteen minutes.” Jim returned to his cooking while the teens around him stared. He had managed to hit a speedster on his first try. And one going after food at that. Civilian Jim had kept Wally West from eating something.

“How-” M’gann started.

“I knew he was going to try, so I kept an eye on him. I’m used to keeping people out of the food while I’m cooking, so a straight shot to the bowl wasn’t that hard to predict and intercept.” Especially not compared to keeping an eye out for magic portals. Jim just kept cooking. Wally was still tempted to take some of the food, but he resisted. Robin was certain he’d never seen the speedster as still as he was when Jim showed off his knife work.

Finally, the fifteen minutes were up. The food looked as fantastic as it smelled. The teens that were in the know had the hardest time resisting the urge to take a bite.

“Recognized. Batman, 0-2”

“Well?” Jim said as he realized Wally and Artemis were still waiting. He gestured to the dish. “Go on. Eat.”

A black gloved hand descended and plucked up some food before Wally or Artemis could. Both of them were too focused on grabbing their share to notice Jim go pale as he watched Batman put it in his mouth.

Wally spit the concoction out and retched, Artemis following shortly after. Batman chewed and swallowed. He showed no reaction at all to the deliberately awful flavor. The remaining teens stared.

“Anything new to report?” Batman asked Jim as though nothing had just happened.

Jim shook his head, eyes still wide. “No.”

Batman nodded and left the room.

Jim groaned and put his head in his hands, completely ignoring the two teens trying to get the taste out of their mouths. “Should I start writing my will now or later?”

Robin laughed as Kaldur reached out a hand and awkwardly patted Jim’s shoulder in a comforting fashion.

“I thought you weren’t afraid of Batman.”

Jim lifted his head and frowned at M’gann. “Why would you think that?”

She frowned. “You had no trouble correcting him and even acted like he was just some normal person giving instructions when he started threatening you. Civilians don’t do that.”

“That’s true,” Robin added, “even League members sometimes have trouble telling him they think he’s wrong. Mostly because he’s stubborn and they’re usually the ones that are wrong. And he was being a little rough on you, but you just sassed him right back.”

Jim winced slightly, so maybe being so chill about all this wasn’t the best idea. “Sure, I can see that, but it’s theories about me that he’s got wrong, so why shouldn’t I correct him? Especially when he’s basing other things on that theory. And… I guess I learned to not show people I’m afraid of them. I thought you guys would have a better handle on that.”

“What does that mean?” Superboy seemed a little insulted.

“I mean…” how did he put this without sounding overly familiar with the topic? “You fear your enemies, right? They want to hurt you and others, and they have the ability to do so much damage. You’d have to be stupid not to fear them. But you can’t let them know they scare you. They’ll use that. You can’t let your fear control you. You push through it.”

Wally and Artemis started gargling water.

Robin and Kaldur nodded along, familiar with the concept. M’gann and Superboy looked like they didn’t quite get it.

“But why should I be afraid of them?” Superboy asked.

Jim thought for a second. Superboy was invulnerable, or nearly invulnerable. He didn’t face the same risks as the rest of the Team. “For one, when you’re afraid, you’re more aware of your surroundings and how your opponent is fighting. And how you’re moving through the world as well. You can spot patterns and weak points faster, come up with strategies. For you, I would ask how certain you are that they can’t hurt you. They might be packing kryptonite. They might have a way to immobilize you or knock you out. Ways to take you out of the fight that don’t necessarily ‘hurt’ you but will hurt your teammates because you can’t help them. If you go into a fight confident that you’re going to win, that they can’t hurt you, you’re setting yourself up for failure.”

“It’s like that one fight you had with Canary when we started training. Wally, too,” Robin put in. “You went in confident that you would win, but she controlled the fight. Even with everything you have, she still beat you without using her powers.”

Jim nodded. “The most dangerous people in the world aren’t the fastest, the strongest, or even the smartest, although you do need a certain type of smarts. It’s not the most agile or the ones with special gifts and powers. No, it’s the most adaptable and aware. The one that changes to face the threat of the time. Batman’s one of those people. Most of the League can adapt to the problem, and the ones that can’t…” Jim shrugged, “that’s why it’s a team.”

Wally and Artemis finally got enough of the wretched food out of their mouths to calm down and pay attention.

Jim glanced around the kitchen. “I should clean this up.”

While Jim gathered everything up to begin cleaning, the Team slipped into a psychic conversation.

_“Well, that was interesting,”_ Robin mused.

_“What was?”_ Wally asked.

_“Jim just rattled off something that it normally takes heroes years to learn, much less actually internalize. And he_ is _afraid of Batman,”_ Robin answered.

_“What did he say?”_ Artemis looked interested.

_“He spoke of the dangers of underestimating your opponent,”_ Kaldur answered.

_“Why would that take so long to learn? Surely it wouldn’t take too long,”_ M’gann looked confused. So did Superboy for that matter, but not as much as M’gann did.

_“Because even if you notice that danger in your early days,”_ Robin said, _“a lot of heroes will blame those early failures on their inexperience and begin to grow more confident against particular opponents over time, forgetting that if they can adapt to the situation, so can others. They usually don’t realize it until something goes horribly wrong during what should have been a routine fight. Bats drilled it into me from day one.”_

_“Yeah, so did Flash,”_ Wally continued. _“But it’s not as big of a deal in Central as it is in Gotham. Our villains have a strict no killing policy.”_

_“Lucky you,”_ Robin sat up a little straighter. _“Hey, did you guys notice those knife skills?”_

_“How could I not?”_ Wally shuddered. _“I thought he was going to gut me.”_

_“They were rather impressive,”_ Kaldur added on.

_“Not the kind of stuff you normally pick up in the kitchen,”_ Artemis said.

_“And much more advanced than he could’ve reached with Batman’s timeline.”_

Kaldur sent Robin a look. _“You think he’s wrong.”_

_“About the timeframe? Yes. About him being involved? No.”_

_“You guys said hero last time,”_ Superboy pointed out.

Robin shrugged. _“That was before he started trying to hide from us. We’re not so sure what side he’s on now.”_

Wally frowned. _“Wait. If he could be a bad guy, why is he hanging out here? And why did we tell him our names!?”_

_“One,”_ Robin held up a finger, _“Kaldur and M’gann’s names are useless right now and there are countless Wallys. Two,”_ he put up another, _“Batman wants to keep an eye on him and what better way than to get him in close to us. And three,”_ Robin held up a third finger, _“he’s hoping that if Jim is on the other side he’s not too far gone, and we can get him over to our side.”_

_“Which will give him another member to the team and new information,”_ Kaldur concluded.

Robin nodded.

Jim, meanwhile, wasn’t sure how to handle the telepathic conversation. What was the etiquette for that? He figured he’d leave it be for now. They were probably talking about him, or something else they didn’t really want to be overheard. While they were at it, he might as well go check out the Helmet of Fate. As much as he hoped nothing would happen, he felt like he needed to visit.

The Team didn’t notice Jim as he left and wandered the halls alone. It was empty and quiet. Almost eerie, really. It didn’t take him long to find his way to the Souvenir Room. The shelf looked no different from last week with the exception of the gold helmet resting at the end of the row. Jim reached out and gently picked it up. A quiet thrum of energy buzzed through his fingers and up to the back of his head. For a brief moment Jim could feel the magic wrap around him in welcome before it vanished as suddenly as it came. In the moment it was there Jim felt the barest trace of surprise and disappointment. Jim smiled as he put the helmet back in its place. The moment he did a small gust of wind blew through the room.

“There you are. We were starting to get a little worried,” Wally rambled, “but Rob said you couldn’t have left the cave. Wait. Don’t tell me you believe in magic, too!”

Jim shrugged. “You never know.”

“Yes, we do. It’s called science. That’s how we know everything.”

“Robin told me what happened. What do you say about your possession?”

Wally didn’t particularly trust the glint in Jim’s eye or the easy smile on his face. “It rewrote my beta waves.”

“How.”

“What?”

“How did it rewrite your beta waves, whatever those are? It’s a hunk of metal.”

“There’s probably some microchips and control nodes embedded in the metal where we can’t see them. The rest of the helmet amplifies the signals while scrambling anything trying to detect them.”

Jim’s smile only grew larger. “You really are going to be stubborn on this. Well, no point in trying to convince you of something you’re already set against.” Jim checked his watch. “I should probably head home. Tell the others for me?”

Wally nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

Jim walked past the speedster, completely relaxed.

“You’re odd, you know that, right?”

Jim laughed. “Most people don’t say it, but, yeah.”

Wall zipped past Jim as he made the trip back to the Zeta Tubes.


	4. Chapter 4

“Anything to share about your new friends, Young Atlas?”

"You’re still just trying to test me.”

Jim had barely even entered Blinky’s old library when Strickler decided to interrogate him.

“Well, yes, but the Order didn’t have much time to study the sidekicks. And some of the League’s enemies are notoriously difficult to pin down.”

Jim rolled his eyes but began looking for the book Blinky had sent him to get. “I’m pretty sure they don’t like being called sidekicks.”

“And what makes you say that?”

“Whenever they talk about themselves, which isn’t often, they always use ‘protege’ or ‘partner,’ never sidekick.”

“Interesting.”

“Anyway. Batman has no taste buds-”

Strickler’s head jerked up from the book he was reading. “How do you know that!?”

“I made something deliberately horrible as a prank and he didn’t react.”

“You-”

“It was meant for someone else.”

“Ah, continue.”

“Kid Flash doesn’t believe in magic and often gets into fights with Artemis. Superboy and Miss Martian are new- well, newer -to the gig. I’m pretty sure Doctor Fate is going to be back in the field sooner rather than later.”

“That’s odd. Our intel said that Kent Nelson hadn’t put on the Helmet in years. If he’s considering letting Fate out of the box again, things must be dire.”

“Kent Nelson?” Jim paused his search.

“Yes, he’s the Helmet’s caretaker and once allowed Fate to use his body to interact with our world. I thought you said he was going to put the Helmet back on?”

“He’s dead. Fate didn’t like being stuck… wherever they put the Helmet, but they haven’t found anyone to put it on yet.” Jim went back to looking. “Are you worried about him?”

“Only in the sense that Doctor Fate only gets restless in times of extreme chaos. In the past I would have worried about his effects on our plans, but those days have long since gone.”

Jim nodded. “I think you’re reading the book Blinky needs.”

“Then he’s going to have to wait. It is quite fascinating.”

“Strickler…”

“Fine. Give me a moment to mark down my page. Here. I do hope he makes good use of it.”

Jim took the book before Strickler could change his mind. “Do you have to be so difficult?”

“Anything for you, Young Atlas.”

Jim chose to ignore that line and returned to the still corrupted Heartstone instead. It was a depressing sight. Everything else was nearly back to normal, but now the Heartstone sat over the town with dark streaks running up and down it. The warm orange glow it gave off when Jim had first seen it was a thing of the past, now it looked sickly and barely cast off enough light and energy to sustain Trollmarket’s shrunken population. Regardless, Jim had work to do.

 

* * *

 

“No Kaldur?” Jim asked as he plopped down into a chair and pulled a book out of his bag.

“No…” Wally said, “what’s with the book?”

“Summer reading,” Jim answered, not looking up from the pages. “I’m behind and figured I might as well get some done while I’m here.”

“Why not do it at your house?” M’gann asked.

Jim winced slightly at the reminder. Blinky had been looking for Jim since discovering some of his books had new scorch marks after letting Jim borrow them. And Draal had been given specific orders on what to do if he saw Jim. Which meant Jim was avoiding his house until Blinky was in a better mood to listen. “Let’s just say that’s not the best of ideas right now.”

The Team exchanged looks. “Is there something you need to say?” Robin started nervously.

“No?” Jim frowned, looking up from the book. All he’d done was accidentally read an incantation out loud, but he couldn’t exactly tell them that.

“If you say so.” Wally didn’t sound convinced but dropped the topic. Jim returned to his reading.

The time passed fairly smoothly. The Team largely ignored Jim, and Jim focused on getting his reading done while listening in from time to time and throwing in comments if he felt like it.

“There you are,” Canary said. “Training starts in five, go get ready.” The Team grumbled slightly but complied quickly. “And, Jim?”

Jim glanced up from his reading. “Yeah?”

“Can you stick around today? I need to talk to you.”

“Okay?”

Canary smiled. “Good. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. If you want to watch training, you can come join us.”

Jim nodded, still concerned. At least watching the others train might offer some distractions.

When the training was done Jim wasn’t sure what to make of it. Canary was demanding and placed a strong emphasis on both teamwork and avoiding dependency on any one thing. Whether that was your teammates or powers didn’t matter, Canary refused to let the teens get used to having it. On the other hand, Jim couldn’t help but think that the Forge was better. The Cave didn’t allow for any variation in environment and he felt odd about training in an area that was so static and isolated.

While the Team showered and changed out of their uniforms Canary guided Jim to an area of the cave that hadn’t been covered in M’gann’s tour. They entered a room set up like it was for private interviews. There were two chairs that matched the rest of the furniture in the Cave facing each other with a small side table next to each of them, and a quiet waterfall opposite the door. The room seemed built to be calming and comfortable.

“What do you think?”

“What?” Jim jerked from his thoughts.

“The Team. Their training. What do you think?” Canary took the chair to the right of the door and gestured for Jim to take the other.

“Oh,” Jim blushed and sat, “seems intense. Then again, with what they do…” Jim shrugged, “it probably has to be.”

“So, they’ve told you about their missions?” Canary asked.

Jim nodded. “There’s an awful lot of explosions for a stealth team.”

Canary laughed. “Have you changed your mind on wanting training from the League?”

Jim shook his head. “No.”

Canary nodded slightly. “Do you want my opinion?”

“Um, sure.”

“We don’t know who or what attacked Arcadia. We don’t know what happened to them or what they’re capable of. There’s a strong chance that we won’t have time to react if they come back. Your best chance of survival is to take that offer. To learn how to read the situation, how to fight when you need to, and use that to run when the time comes.”

Jim frowned. It was a strong argument. He wasn’t sure how to get out of it. “Does Batman agree with you?”

“He does.”

“Then why didn’t he push? Why didn’t he make me train? He just accepted it and left.”

“Because he couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t refuse everything to get out of training. We can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. Can’t teach someone who doesn’t want to learn.”

Jim squirmed. “I- I’ll think about it.” Hopefully that got her to leave the subject alone.

Canary smiled softly. “That’s all I ask. I do have another concern, though.”

“What, uh, what is it?”

“The Team mentioned you seemed a little too familiar with fear and how to handle it. I’m concerned about your home life.”

Jim went still. “No! My mom wouldn’t-! She-!” Jim stopped and took a breath. “It’s just…” he ducked his head. This wasn’t something he had prepared for. “It’s just bullies. At school. I used to have a problem. Not anymore, but it was bad for a while.” It hadn’t ever really been that bad, considering Eli was the preferred punching bag, but that had definitely come to a stop when Steve mellowed out.

Canary nodded. “I’m glad I was wrong. If you ever need to talk to me, I’m here.”

Jim nodded nervously and rose. “So, uh, I won’t waste anymore of your time. I should probably, um, get going.”

Canary stood as well and held the door open for Jim. “You didn’t waste my time. I’ll see you next week.”

“He-he, yeah.” Jim walked quickly through the cave and left without another word.

 

* * *

 

The fourth time Jim visited was different. For one, the Team was on a mission. For another, he was technically under house arrest. It took some wandering, but he finally found someone to talk to.

“Hey!” He called, approaching Red Tornado.

“Ah, Mr. Lake,” Red Tornado said as he turned, “Batman informed be you would be visiting. Do you have anything you would like to report?”

“No, just needed to make sure the League wasn’t going to flip because I didn’t show. Now, I’d love to stay and chat, but my mom’s waiting for me.”

“Oh? Do you have plans for tonight?”

“Not really, I’m kinda grounded right now.” Because she finally learned all the things Jim had been up to over the past nine months. Now, Jim could only leave the house for things he absolutely had to do, like training, Trollhunter duties, and checking in with the League. Other than that, he stayed at home. He was honestly debating whether or not he should have told her. At least he wasn’t chained to anyone like Draal and Strickler. They were going to get very used to each other.

And, honestly, as mad as she was, he was glad to be talking to her again. To have her fully in his life.

“Anyway,” Jim shook himself out of his thoughts, “I’ve gotta go. Bye!”

“Goodbye, Mr. Lake,” Red Tornado replied as Jim ran back to the Zeta Tubes.

 

* * *

 

Jim didn’t recognize the robotic sphere.

It beeped at him.

“Uh, hi,” Jim said from the Zeta Tube he’d just exited.

The sphere beeped again and then turned and rolled off. Jim decided he might as well follow it. Hopefully it knew where people were.

The ball rolled into the gym, beeping loudly.

“Sphere?” Superboy’s voice came from inside.

“Hey, Superboy,” Jim said, “is Batman around? Or Canary or Red Tornado for that matter?”

Superboy was sitting shirtless on one of the benches, frowning at Sphere in confusion. “Oh, hey, Jim. Batman’s in the lounge talking with Robin, Wally, and Artemis.”

“Thanks!” Jim said as he turned and made his way back to the lounge.

“Hey, Jim!” Robin greeted when he saw the other teen.

“Hey, Robin.” Jim turned to Batman. “Anything in particular you want to ask me today? Because if not, I need to go.”

“TMI, dude,” Artemis groaned.

“No, as in I have to leave,” Jim corrected. “I’m still under house arrest. Will be for another week or so.”

“What did you do?” Wally laughed.

“It’s not what I did. It’s what I didn’t do.”

“Regardless of what happened,” Batman interrupted, “no, I do not have any questions for you. Has anything of note happened?”

Jim shook his head. “Not really. The school year started without a hitch.” Which had gotten Strickler and Draal out of their punishment. Or at least what had been their punishment. Jim knew his mom was coming up with something new now that Strickler had to be presentable and not chained to a seven-foot-tall rock creature for classes. He chose not to mention his mother was also insisting on teaching the kids Krav Maga, Eli and Steve included. It was the only bargain they could make to keep her from telling the other parents what was going on.

Batman nodded and acknowledgement. “Go on then. You don’t want to keep your mother waiting.”

Jim nodded and quickly left the cave.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably not going to be able to post tomorrow due to family matters. I'll be back on Monday and we'll continue as normal.

“Mr. Lake.” The voice was confident, male, and not someone any of the teens recognized.

The trio of Trollhunters stopped and turned to see a bald man in an expensive business suit crossing Arcadia Oaks High School’s lawn. A woman with shoulder length brown hair followed in a business suit of her own, though not as nice as her bosses.

The man, who they recognized as the infamous Lex Luthor, smiled at them. “Mr. Lake, I’m glad I caught you.”

“Mr. Luthor, what brings you to Arcadia?” Claire opened.

“Why Mr. Lake, of course,” he answered.

The teens stared at him for a moment, waiting to see if he would elaborate. “I don’t follow,” Jim eventually spoke.

“I recently learned that we have some mutual friends, Mr. Lake. I thought I would come see what all the fuss is about.”

“Yeah, nope.” Jim shook his head. “Still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The Blue Boy Scout? I thought he and his friends had made your acquaintance.” His smile was becoming more stressed as the conversation went on.

“The Blue-?” Jim forced himself to frown in confusion. “Oh! Wait, you think-? You’re nuts.”

“I must disagree.” His expression was almost a snarl now. “I have reputable sources that you have been making regular visits to one of their little club houses.”

Jim edged backwards. “I kinda doubt anyone-”

“Hey! Buttsnack!”

“Uh-oh,” Toby muttered.

Steve stalked across the lawn with Eli in tow attracting attention from the various students passing by. “You leave my friend alone.”

“Friend?” Claire whispered.

“Were you talking to me!?” Steve had completely derailed the conversation and thrown Luthor for a loop.

“You see any other buttsnacks around here?”

A crowd was starting to form. Steve shoved himself between Jim and Luthor.

“I was merely attempting to hold a friendly conversation-”

“Didn’t look like that to me.”

A quiet murmur of agreement wove through the crowd as Eli sidled up to Jim.

“I assure you-”

“Get out of here!” That was Shannon. Jim glanced around. A variety of student were starting to form a sort of protective barrier around him. He could see most of the so called “Reckless Club” as well as Darci and a few students he recognized from a couple of classes.

The woman stepped forward as the tension rose.

“This is hardly called for,” Luthor tried again. “I have done nothing to-”

“That’s enough, break it up!” Coach Lawrence forced his way through the ring of observers around Luthor and the students. Most of those that had remained in the outer ring dispersed immediately. The others refused to move. “Really, you’re staying?”

“Leave them be, Coach Lawrence,” Strickler seemed to appear out of nowhere. “They are merely looking after their own. Something that should be encouraged, in my opinion.”

“Ah, finally. Some reasonable adults.” Luthor plastered his best PR smile back on his face. “I’m afraid I don’t quite know what happened here. I was holding a perfectly civil conversation when-”

“I apologize, Mr. Luthor,” Strickler said soothingly. “However, you must understand, that from our perspective, you showed up and then a bunch of perfectly well-behaved students almost start a fist fight. Regardless of the actual events, cause and effect are rather clear. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Luthor glanced around and Jim took the opportunity to do the same. It was a little difficult to see through his classmates, but he managed to make out teachers around the area, each with their phone out, ready to call for help if necessary.

“I can see when I’m not wanted.” A scowl marred Luthor’s face, damaging what was left of a graceful retreat. “Mr. Lake-”

“Please,” Strickler interrupted. “Do not do anything to incite further violence.”

Luthor glared. Strickler smiled. “Mercy,” he called as he turned and left.

Mercy, the woman Luthor had brought with him, watched the crowd for a second longer, then turned and followed.

“Alright, kids,” Coach Lawrence said, “nothing more to see here. Go home.”

“Indeed. I believe your mother is waiting for you in the parking lot, Young Atlas.” Strickler turned to Claire. “And, Miss Nuñez, I think your mother would appreciate hearing about this little incident before anyone files a complaint.”

Claire nodded. “Of course, Mr. Strickler.” She turned and gave Jim a quick peck on the cheek. “See you tomorrow, Jim!”

Jim grinned and waved back to her. “See you tomorrow!”

“Hurry along now, Young Atlas,” Strickler said as he gently began pushing Jim towards his mother’s car. His voice dropped low. “Your new friends would likely prefer to hear about this post haste as well. I will keep an eye on the unwanted guest.”

Jim nodded and quickly made his way to his mom and informed her of the change in schedule.

 

* * *

 

“Recognized. James Lake Junior, A-1-4.”

Wally froze in a moment of surprise and Canary capitalized on it, knocking the teen to the ground.

“So, who can tell me what went wrong that time?” she asked, deliberately ignoring the new arrival.

Artemis and Robin were too focused on Jim to actually answer.

“You do know it’s not Sunday, right?” Wally asked.

Jim frowned. “Yeah?”

“Which means you don’t need to be here?”

“Robin,” Canary called. “Why did Wally lose the match?”

“He got distracted by Jim and wasn’t paying attention to you.”

“Very good. Now, Jim, why are you here?”

“Luthor turned up at my school. Turns out, a lot of my classmates are more than willing to through down with a billionaire at a moment’s notice.”

“What!?”

“Luthor!?”

“Dude!”

“Quiet!” Once the teens stopped yelling, Canary continued. “What exactly happened?”

“I’d just got out of school and was going to go home when he approached me.”

“You were still at school?”

Jim nodded. “Anyway. He starts talking and being a bit creepy. I try and keep it mostly civil and am one hundred percent ready to start screaming if he actually tries anything.”

“Really?” Wally snickers.

“What was he talking about, Jim.” Canary was clearly getting tired of the interruptions.

“The League. It seems someone noticed my visits. Somehow.”

Everyone was silent. They didn’t know how that was possible.

“Anyway. Turned out it wasn’t at all necessary for me to make any backup plans because my classmates noticed the creep and got between us. Or, rather, some of them got between us. Steve looked like he wasn’t that far from just decking the guy. Two teachers got involved as well and there were at least five watching ready to call for help.”

“How many students-?” Robin looked extremely worried.

“Around me specifically? At least ten. There was also a crowd of observers.”

“I need to call Batman.” Canary turned and opened up the satellite link.

“If that’s all, I’m still grounded, and my mom was more than a little jumpy after hearing about what happened…”

“Go,” Canary said without any really thought. “Team, hit the showers. Training is over for the day.”

Jim nodded and turned to leave.

“Recognized. James Lake Junior, A-1-4.”

“I’ll be surprised if he has a school to go to tomorrow,” Robin muttered.

“Yeah,” Wally agreed. “Luthor’s not going to forget that.”

 

* * *

 

“So,” Jim said as he entered the cave’s sitting room, “Belle Reve Penitentiary. How did that go? Actually, forget that. Where’s Canary? Or Batman? Any League member will do.”

M’gann and Superboy stared at Jim for a moment. “Canary should be here soon for training. What about Belle Reve?”

Jim shrugged grinning. “It made the news and you guys weren’t exactly here on Wednesday. I put the pieces together. How long do you think before Canary gets here? I’m still grounded.”

Superboy shrugged. “We could probably pass along the message for you if you’re in that much of a rush. How’ve things been? Since Luthor stopped by?”

Jim’s grin only got wider. “PR nightmare for Luthor. Well, as much as it can be seeing as it hasn’t really left Arcadia. He kinda got run out of town, though.” He laughed at the surprised looks on the two aliens’ faces. “It was very public in a small suburb. Word spread fast. It also helps that my girlfriend’s mom is on the city council.”

Superboy smiled at that. “Sounds like he got his ass handed to him.”

Jim nodded. “In a manner of speaking. Anyway, I gotta go. See you guys around!”

“Bye, Jim!” M’gann called after him.

“Recognized. Black Canary, 1-3.”

“Hi, Canary!” Jim called as he passed the older hero on his way to the Zeta Tubes. “Bye, Canary!”

“Recognized. James Lake Junior, A-1-4.”

 

* * *

 

If this kept up, Jim’s weekly visits were going to turn into biweekly visits. At least this time it was only because he was going to be busy over the weekend and wouldn’t be able to check in. He would have gone to check in later, but his mom was insisting he do it now, so he didn’t forget.

“Where are they?” Jim muttered to himself as he wandered through the cave. He’d recently gotten off school himself, and he’d been told that there would almost always be at least one League member present at Mount Justice. Eventually he made his way to the hanger and finally found someone.

More specifically, Superboy, M’gann, Kaldur, and Wally were hanging out and chatting while Wally worked on Superboy’s bike near the other Zeta Tubes.

“Hey, guys,” Jim greeted as he climbed the steps.

“Jim!” M’gann replied with her usual cheer.

“What now?” Wally asked.

Jim raised an eyebrow. “Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine?”

“Excuse him,” Kaldur apologized. “He merely means that you only come here when you have to, and of late, with your grounding, you do not linger.”

“Fair enough, but this time I’m just being proactive. My mom made plans for the weekend. She says it’ll keep me busy the entire time.”

“Part of your grounding?” M’gann asked.

Superboy looked up from his bike. “I thought grounding meant taking away privileges.”

“It does,” Jim agreed, “and technically this isn’t a part of that- I got off that hook yesterday- but it’s probably related.”

Wally gave Jim an odd look.

Jim just shrugged in response.

“Torque wrench,” Wally said. M’gann passed the tool to him telekinetically. “Thank you, green cheeks.”

“I have been meaning to ask, any problem juggling school work with your responsibilities here?”

Jim frowned at Kaldur. It wasn’t an odd question, but Jim had always assumed that everyone on the Team had been in the hero gig for a while. Certainly longer than him, which would have given them plenty of practice balancing “work” and school life.

“No,” was Superboy’s blunt response.

“Juggling’s just one of my many talents,” Wally grinned. “Socket wrench.”

M’gann passed him the socket wrench. “Daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge. Oh, but my first priority is always to the Team. This team, not the Bumblebees.”

“Artemis starts school today,” Kaldur said. “Do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?”

Loyalties? Was Kaldur questioning his-

“Nah, she’ll manage alright,” Wally assured. “I mean, how much more hostile and annoying can-”

An explosion tore through the walls and blasted the five teens down the steps. All five screamed in surprise as they flew through the air. They quickly got back on their feet once they landed, some smoother than others.

Three thick tendrils of water rose from the bay and whipped down to strike at them.

“Move!” Kaldur yelled. “M’gann, link us up! All of us!”

The teens leaped out of the way as a dull throb resonated from the back of Jim’s head.

 _“Is everyone online?”_ M’gann’s voice was staticky in Jim’s head. Like it was coming through an old radio.

Blasts of fire came from nowhere, landing all around them. A few got uncomfortably close to hitting at times. One of the tendrils of water smacked Sphere sending it beeping… angrily? - into the wall behind them. Sphere stuck and went silent.

 _“Dude!”_ Wally cried, _“those things hit hard!”_

 _“We need to move,”_ Kaldur responded. His voice was staticky as well.

Jim glanced over at the other teens, frantically dodging. None of them were moving their mouths. _Right_ , Jim thought, _telepathy._ But that didn’t explain the sound quality.

 _“Stairs on the other side are clear,”_ Superboy’s voice was calm and, again, came through with interference.

Kaldur nodded and stopped trying to take control of the water. _“Go.”_ He turned to run.

Superboy and M’gann both disengaged and ran for the stairs opposite the Zeta Tubes.

 _“Jim, are you there?”_ M’gann asked.

Jim went to follow the others. Wally was staying back longer to keep the attackers busy.

_“Jim?”_

Could they not simply hear the thoughts he’d had earlier. He focused more on the concept of them hearing him. _“Yeah, I’m here.”_

 _“Why-”_ Wally started as he zipped past.

 _“Later, Kid,”_ Kaldur interrupted. _“Right now, we need to focus on the fight.”_

When the teens were about halfway up the steps, a surge of water from behind knocked them off their feet, pulling them back down. Jim struggled against the current that dropped them back onto the lower floor of the hanger bay.

 _“M’gann, go aerial!”_ Kaldur ordered. _“We need to see what’s up there!”_

Just as he said that, a figure began rising out of the water. Jim pushed his thoughts out again. _“Incoming from the water!”_

Wally slipped through the waving water spouts and charged the figure. The figure simply raised an arm and the water responded, creating a barrier between Wally and them. When the wall dropped Jim could see them clearly for the first time. They had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and their metal skin was a shiny red with yellow marking reminiscent of Red Tornado.

A scream echoed through the room, made all the more disturbing due to the fact that no one had said anything out loud since the attack had begun. The presence in Jim’s mind vanished.

“M’gann!” Superboy screamed.

“Superboy, maneuver seven!” Kaldur said as he began charging in the kryptonian’s direction. Superboy spun around in a heartbeat with his knees bent and his hands laced together to make a platform. Kaldur placed one foot in Superboy’s hands and jumped as Superboy straightened and launched the other teen higher. Kaldur pulled out his water bearers and used them to form a shield to block the fire balls being launched from the other opponent.

Jim’s movements began to slow as he grew tired of dodging out away from the strikes. He really hated this. He couldn’t use his armor at all, and he was much more used to a more up close and personal style of fighting rather than this super powered, hit from a distance crap.

Kaldur cried out from the upper platform and went silent. The three remaining teens shared a look for a single moment, registering that they were now officially down two friends and teammates and had no way to protect them. Another wave knocked them down. Jim gasped and sputtered as it receded, leaving him drenched again.

When Jim looked up both Wally and Superboy were partially encased in a strange metallic looking substance that kept them from moving and that Superboy didn’t seem to be able to break. The figure from the water stepped out to observe his captives struggling as a second figure encased in fire descended from above. The flames died as they landed, revealing a clearly feminine figure that was also red with yellow markings. Both strongly resemble Red Tornado.

Superboy’s went wide as they landed on Jim, still crouched on the ground, but completely unrestrained. “Run!” he yelled.

The two androids followed Superboy’s gaze as Jim turned back towards the stairs again.

“Surrender,” spoke one of them. Their voice was identical to Red Tornado’s as well. Jim didn’t particularly want to think about all the ways that could be used against them. Or about how screwed and absolutely dead they were.

A fireball soared over Jim’s head, singeing his hair and causing him to duck and roll. He had to keep moving. A wave came behind him again and swept him up, slamming him against the wall.

Jim struggled back to his feet, struggling to get his lungs working again,

“Surrender,” one of them spoke again. Without moving mouths, Jim couldn’t be sure which was speaking. “We have no need to hurt you.”

Jim ducked and dashed under their outstretched arms. Before he could get far, a final wave lifted him, pressing him against the wall. Jim struggled, but could feel the liquid solidifying around him. The remaining water receded, and the two androids turned from him.

“Kaldur! M’gann!” Superboy yelled, turning his gaze to the platform above them.

“Superboy.” Kaldur sounded tired and confused. “We are trapped in a cage of fire. We are fine for now, but I do not know how much we will be able to take.”

“How’s M’gann!”

“She is unconscious.”

“Now, we wait,” Wally grumbled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry about the added tag. I just forgot that was going to be a thing. It's not going to come up for a while yet.

Jim trudged along the streets of Trollmarket, exhausted and covered in a fine layer of salt from the seawater he had been repeatedly doused with. The first thing Jim had done after being freed from his confinement was check his phone. After discovering it had been severely damaged by the sea water, he had borrowed one of Batman’s spares to call his mom. The call had been rather frantic as Jim tried to reassure his mom that he was fine and didn’t need the rescue party she had been putting together. She only hung up after Jim promised to stop by the Heartstone and explain everything as soon as he got away from everything. A couple arguments, a mission briefing, and one misplaced shock blanket (Jim got lost in thought trying to put the pieces together, and Canary mistook the accompanying thousand-yard stare for shock) later and Jim finally found himself back in Arcadia.

“I am rapidly losing faith,” Jim said as he sat at one of the Heartstone’s tables. The rooms hadn’t changed much since Blinky had moved in, but it had also only been a few months and Gunmar had little interest in interior decorating.

“Faith in what?” Strickler said, quickly turning from whatever chastisement Barbara had been giving him when Jim entered.

“I don’t know.” Jim ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “The League. The Team. They just- It’s like they’re blind!”

“Explain, Master Jim, if you would,” Blinky said as he moved to sit opposite the teen.

“Nothing makes any sense, and they don’t see it!” Barbara took a seat beside her son. “Not only do they not realize they’re missing crucial information, but they jumped to the stupidest conclusion possible!”

“Jim, honey,” Barbara placed a hand on his shoulder, “why don’t you tell us what happened.

Jim was about to begin when he noticed something. “Where’s Toby and Claire?”

“I sent them home after you called,” Barbara answered. “I can call you in sick, but they still need their sleep. Especially if they aren’t going to tell their parents anything.”

“Regardless, they are safe, and you can talk to them later, Young Atlas. You were about to regale us with a story.”

Barbara sent Strickler a halfhearted glare.

“Right,” Jim began, “there was an attack on the cave. I got there right before it started. Two androids. They looked a lot like Red Tornado, to the point that the Team and the League have begun referring to them collectively as ‘The Reds.’ It came out of nowhere, and it didn’t take long for them to subdue us.”

“Master Jim! I’d have thought you could handle two adversaries!” Blinky interrupted.

“If I were to guess,” Strickler said slowly, “they were superpowered and ranged fighters. Something Jim does not have experience with.”

Jim nodded. “Add to that the lack of armor and I was a sitting duck. I lasted the longest, but that’s likely because it took them a while to even realize I was there.”

“Fair enough,” Blinky conceded. “But,” he pointed his staff at Jim, “that is something we will have to fix.”

Jim rolled his eyes even as his mom nodded her agreement. “Anyway. We were at their mercy, and Artemis only barely managed to set off an EMP to shut everything down before they killed us. After that Red Tornado arrives, goes to investigate the other two right as the EMP wears off and then suddenly he’s turning on us and creating a vacuum. But he doesn’t kill us, just knocks us out. When we wake up the League is there, and the Reds are gone.”

Barbara frowned at her son. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“They left you alive?” Strickler asked.

Jim nodded. “They didn’t take anything either, and most of the damage to the Cave was superficial. All they did was show off that they could.”

“So, we know this attack does not make strategic sense,” Blinky agreed. “Now onto the assumptions they are making about it.”

“I can’t say for certain that the League agrees with this… assessment, but…” Jim sighed. “Aqualad had reason to suspect a mole on the Team, or in close connection. He kept the information to himself.”

“As one does,” Strickler muttered.

Jim ignored the comment. “The Team came to the conclusion that it was Red Tornado.”

Strickler froze and stared at Jim.

“So they assumed the guy that turned on them was the spy? What’s so weird about that?”

Strickler, Jim, and Blinky spared Barbara a glance before Strickler launched into an explanation. “Apologies, Bar- Dr. Lake,” he corrected himself after noticing her glare, “I keep forgetting that you are not familiar wi-”

“Get on with it,” Barbara snapped.

“Right,” he gulped slightly, “under the assumptions the teen heroes are making, and with the information we do have. The events stand as such: two previously unknown enemies attack the supposedly secret base and blow the cover of their spy. They do not take anything or do any lasting damage of any kind. They also reveal that they have -or rather had, given how quickly the League patches known holes in their security- a way to get in and out of their systems and bases without being noticed. They walk away having tipped their hands and gained nothing for it.”

“Which would make this one of the stupidest attacks possible coming from someone smart enough to actually do all that and, as of right now, get away with it,” Jim finished.

“Indeed,” Blinky brought a hand to his chin as he thought, crossing two of the remaining three across his chest. “It would make more sense if this Red Tornado were a victim of some kind, rather than the spy.”

Jim nodded. “And androids can be reprogrammed. Though, that still doesn’t cover why we were left alive.”

Barbara sighed. “For now, let’s just be grateful you were and get some rest. You have a long weekend ahead of you.”

“I agree with your mother, Young Atlas,” Strickler said as he watched the pair stand and begin heading for the door. “We will not find the answer to that question just yet. We will have to wait for more information. For now, allow sleep to ease the burden from your shoulders.”

Barbara and Jim both rolled their eyes at the elder changeling and bid both him and Blinky good night before beginning the journey home.

“Get your rest, Master Jim,” Blinky called after the pair, “I will see you tomorrow to begin that training!”

 

* * *

 

Jim focused on putting one foot in front of the other, carefully blocking out the sounds of Toby and Claire sparing with Draal while Eli and Steve learned forms with Barbara.

“That’s it, Master Jim!” Blinky said, cheering the young Trollhunter on.

Jim continued to ignore Blinky as he began to move a bit faster and higher. He paused a few feet above Blinky’s head and turned back to face him. “So, uh, Blinky,” Jim said as he tried to split his attention between the conversation and staying attached to the wall, “how’s the research on the Heartstone going?”

“Not well, Master Jim. Not well at all. It is stable but will not be able to support any growth in population. We will likely need to find a new Heartstone.”

“What!?” Jim stumbled a bit but caught himself before he fell. “You’re moving!?”

“Potentially. Keep moving, Master Jim, it will make for good practice. We do not know as of yet and even if we were to, it will take a long time for us to find another Heartstone that can support our community.”

Jim obediently began moving along the wall. It took a moment for him to formulate a response while trying to keep just enough attention on his actions to keep his precarious position. “Have you… found anything… about how… to fix it?”

“There is one option,” Blinky mused. “We must find a chunk of Heartstone to introduce new untainted energy and tip the balance. But harvesting and moving such a piece would be difficult. If we were to find another Heartstone, we would likely relocate rather than risk the damages.”

“But if you move-” Jim yelped as he suddenly fell from the wall, “-if you move won’t I have to move, too? I can’t really be an effective Trollhunter if I don’t live near the Heartstone.”

Blinky smiled as he helped Jim back up. “Do not worry, Master Jim, your human life span will likely have run its course by the time we find another Heartstone, and, if it has not, we can delay until you are able to move with us. The situation is stable, after all.”

Jim snorted. “I might not actually live here, Blinky, but I can still see the effect it’s having on people. It isn’t the same without the Heartstone. Trollmarket is going to want to move as soon as they know there’s somewhere to move, too. You can’t sustain this, even if the Heartstone can.”

Blinky’s gaze softened for a moment. “Either way, that is something we will worry about when we get there. For now, you have your training. Up you go, Master Jim! Unless you would like to try your hand at another stone?”

Jim rolled his eyes and laughed as he began walking up the wall again.

 

* * *

 

Jim huffed as he wandered through the woods. He had been absolutely right in thinking his mom’s plans would be related to the whole “not telling her about trollhunting” thing. Her plan? A camping trip with her and Strickler, starting as soon as school let out and ending Sunday night. It was only Saturday afternoon and tensions were running high, which Jim believed to be her point. She had promptly taken their weapons when they got to the campsite and began poking at old wounds to make them talk to each other about them. That had resulted in almost anything from light hearted insults, when it wasn’t something either of them cared about anymore, to shouting matches and a few near brawls. So now Jim was out in the woods, alone, trying to clear his head so he didn’t do something he’d regret.

A rustle in the underbrush followed by a scrape against bark caught Jim’s attention. Maybe he wasn’t as alone as he thought. He glanced around and spotted a nice stick not far from him. It was thick, looked sturdy, and was about the length of a baseball bat. Jim quickly collected his new weapon and began subtly testing the balance as he walked.

A rustle of cloth sent Jim rolling to the side as he dodged whoever tried to drop on top of him. Instinct honed by months of training and active combat had Jim spinning towards his assailant and kicking out with his foot, in accordance with Rule Number Three, and dropping into a ready position with his stick in front of him.

A high-pitched wheeze escaped the short, black-haired teen that had dropped from the trees. The figure staggered slightly as Jim recognized the loose hoodie and jacket. “Robin?” Jim asked, not shifting his stance. Robin recovered, fairly quickly and turned to face Jim, even if his movements did still betray his pain. Jim blinked as Robin dropped into a fighting stance and swung.

Jim blocked the first blow with his stick and knocked the second aside with his hand, moving in close. Robin lashed out with his leg, knocking Jim off balance and sending him tumbling to the ground. Jim rolled with the fall and lurched back towards the smaller teen, swinging his stick towards Robin’s head. Robin ducked, but Jim took the opening to drive his knee into Robin’s side. Robin rolled back to his feet and moved quickly back to the fight. A flurry of blows and blocks that neither could truly track followed, ending with Robin face first in the dirt.

Jim kept the younger hero pinned with a knee digging into his back, one arm pulled back and the joint locked, and the stick pressed against his neck and shoulders. Both boys panted as they recovered from the exertion. Jim’s breathing, much to Robin’s surprise, leveled off first.

“I told you to always be afraid,” Jim began after one final calming breath. “I thought you understood that, but clearly not. So here’s another lesson for you: Never hold back. If you truly want to win, hit hard, hit fast and use everything you have available to you. That’s the real reason I won. You didn’t want to hurt me.” Jim stood, releasing Robin from his hold. “Now go report to whoever sent you and leave me the fuck alone.” Jim didn’t wait for a response before he turned his back on the younger hero and stalked back towards his camp. He had a long and stressful weekend ahead of him. He didn’t want to deal with the League as well.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of cross posting, this fic will not be updating tomorrow. It will update on Thursday and there after. We shouldn't run into any more gaps until it's up to date.

Jim found himself once again greeted by an unusual sight when he stepped out of the Zeta Tubes at the Cave. This time it was the massive white wolf that watched him right back. Jim raised his hand slightly and waved at the creature as Superboy entered the room.

“Hey, Jim,” Superboy said.

“Hi. Where did…?”

“The India mission we went on after the whole Red fiasco,” Superboy answered flatly. “C’mon, Batman’s waiting.”

Jim forced down his apprehension, wringing the strap of his bag in his hands. Batman waiting meant Batman actually had something to talk about. If Batman had something to talk about, Jim slipped up. Jim winced as he remembered exactly what had happened. He won a fight against Robin. From the League’s perspective, that shouldn’t be possible. Jim was even a bit disappointed that he’d won. Robin had been receiving formal training since he was… nine? Ten? Most of that training would focus on adaptability and never relying on one weapon or fighting style. And he had years of field experience to hone his skills. Jim had ten months total with a lot of learning on the job and was still largely dependent on the Amulet of Daylight.

“So, uh, anything new around here?” Jim asked as he followed the other teen. “Other than the wolf.”

Superboy shook his head. “Wolf is the latest addition. Beyond him the only real change is the rotating supervisors. Batman volunteered to take today, give Captain Marvel the day off.”

Jim winced at that. “Waiting for me, huh?” A weak smile pulled at his lips. “Still, can’t be worse than that food I made.”

Superboy cracked a smile at that. “True. What did you do this time anyway? Robin won’t tell anyone, and the rest of the Team doesn’t know.”

“Eh… if Robin won’t tell you, I probably shouldn’t.”

“Fine,” Superboy stopped at a door and gestured to it, “good luck.”

Jim nodded, took a breath, and entered. It was a secondary sitting room that was now being used as a meeting room with Robin in one of the chairs and Batman standing menacingly in the middle. Jim sidled nervously over to a different chair and took a seat, dropping his bag beside him. “So… you wanted to talk to me?”

Batman nodded. “You have training.”

Jim winced, he couldn’t really deny that. “Not as much as you might think.”

“Oh?”

“It really shouldn’t have been enough to beat Robin,” Jim said nodding.

“But you did,” Robin said from his chair, “and we can’t explain how.”

Jim frowned at Robin. Jim had literally explained it to him after the fight. Had he not been listening, or did he just not care? Maybe he hadn’t believed him. “I told you, you held back-”

“How could you tell?” Batman asked, taking control of the conversation.

“You mean besides the fact that I one? Robin didn’t use any of his weapons. Not even his… escrima sticks? Is that what they’re called?” Robin nodded. “He kept it purely hand to hand.”

“Meanwhile you took pot shots and picked a stick up off the ground for a weapon,” Robin grumbled.

“That was going to be my second point,” Jim agreed. “Robin held back, and I was taught to always fight dirty. I never expect a fair fight, so I don’t fight like it’s going to be one.”

“So, it was a fluke?” Batman clarified.

“I’m not sure-” Jim was cut off as his phone began to ring.

“I am Gun Robot. Pick up your phone. I am Gun Robot-”

Jim pulled the device out of his pocket. He was originally going to just turn it off until he got some time alone to deal with whatever emergency had come up, but when he saw Councilwoman Nuñez’s name on the caller ID he paused. He got her number from Claire, but last he knew, she didn’t have his. “I should probably take this,” he said to the pair as he finally shook himself out of his thoughts and answered. “Hello, Mrs. Nuñez-”

“Where is my daughter.” The councilwoman sounded murderous.

“I don’t know,” Jim answered as his palms began to sweat and his heart rate rose. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, and the last thing he wanted was to piss off his girlfriend's parents again. “I haven’t seen her since she left to-”

Mrs. Nuñez began speaking in rapid Spanish that Jim couldn’t quite understand. He managed to grasp “my little girl” and a series of insults that he assumed were directed at him.

“Mrs. Nuñez! Mrs. Nuñez!” Jim waited for her to run out of steam before he continued. “We went to the diner after school to hang out for a while,” he explained. “Claire left at four to go to whatever family event you have planned for tonight.”

“Well, she didn’t make it,” Mrs. Nuñez hissed into her phone, “and you were the last person to see her! Where are you!?”

Jim’s wide eyes flicked over to Batman. How exactly was he supposed to answer that? His involvement with the League wasn’t something either of them wanted spread around. “I- I’m on my way ove-”

“No,” she bit out. Jim flinched at her tone. “You are staying right where you are. I’m going to send someone to get you and you will stay where you are until then. Am I clear?”

“Y-yes ma’am.”

“Good. Now, _where are you._ ”

Jim floundered for a response, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to come up with an excuse. Without warning or preamble Batman grabbed Jim’s phone. “Hey!” Jim protested.

“Mrs. Nuñez,” he said into the phone. A pause as the woman most likely demanded to know who he was. “I’m Batman. Jim has been with me for the past 15 minutes.” Another pause. “One moment.” Batman hung up the phone and fiddled with it for a moment before holding it at arm’s length in front of him. Jim heard the shutter sound effect of the camera going off before Batman returned to fiddling with the phone. When he was done he handed the phone back to Jim. “Go home. The address where you will be meeting Mrs. Nuñez is on the phone.” Batman left.

Robin and Jim exchanged a look before immediately crowding around the phone as Jim unlocked it to try and figure out if that had actually happened. Sure enough, Jim had a new text conversation with Councilwoman Nuñez that consisted solely of a picture of Batman’s face and an address. The address was just down the street from the hidden Zeta Tube in Arcadia.

“You should probably get going,” Robin said slowly as he processed what had happened. “And don’t delete that. I need the evidence.”

“Huh?” Jim asked.

“I’ll text you later,” Robin clarified. “Just don’t delete that. No one’s going to believe us without the proof.”

“Sure.”

Robin poked Jim in the shoulder. Jim jumped and glanced at the younger hero. “Somewhere to be?” Robin said, pointing at the phone.

Jim glanced down. “Oh, right!” Jim put his phone back in his pocket, grabbed his bag, and bolted out of the room, making a beeline for the Zeta Tubes.

 

* * *

 

Jim leaned against the wall of the small game shop, taking long deep breaths to steady himself. He made it before whoever Mrs. Nuñez sent to pick him up. He had managed to shoot off a text to Toby while he waited that simply said, “Find Claire.”

A red sedan pulled up and the driver rolled the passenger side window down. “Jim Lake?” he asked.

“That’s me,” Jim said, pushing off the wall and walking calmly up to the vehicle.

The driver nodded. “Well, get in then.”

Jim opened the door and settled in. Neither driver nor passenger spoke for the duration of the ride. It was short but tense and Jim wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or even more nervous when they pulled up to the Nuñez house and the driver threw the car into park. There were more cars than normal in the driveway, and Jim knew for sure they weren’t the Nuñez’s. How? They were cop cars.

“Well,” the driver said, “this is your stop.”

Jim nodded and took a deep breath before stepping out of the car and walking up to the front door, hands wrapped around the strap of his bag again. He pressed the doorbell.

The door opened, and an officer stood on the other side. “James Lake Junior?” he asked.

“Jim,” Jim corrected. The officer stepped to the side to let him in.

Inside the house was a flurry of activity. A few officers stood around or poked through various drawers while another pair of plain clothes officers spoke to the Nuñez parents in the living room and Enrique played in his playpen off to the side.

Mr. Nuñez glanced over from his place on the couch. As soon as he saw Jim, he was on his feet. “You bastard! Where is my daughter!? You know, don’t you!? You did this!”

“Mr. Nuñez,” one of the officers said, “sit down! He’ll answer our questions in a moment, but for now you’re going to have to be civil.”

“Javier,” Mrs. Nuñez said, placing a hand on his shoulder, “just sit down. We’ll figure this out.”

Mr. Nuñez took a deep breath and returned to his seat, still glaring at Jim.

Another officer placed a hand on Jim’s shoulder and gently directed him out of the room. They deposited him in the kitchen, just out of earshot of the quiet conversation in the living room. Jim took a seat at the table and waited. Minutes crawled by, with Jim growing more and more nervous. There were a few brief outbursts, but nothing came of them.

Finally, one of the plain clothes officers came in. He wore a decent work suit, was, by Jim’s estimate, middle aged, and looked over all very average. His height was average. His weight was average. His face was of very average shape and his hair and eyes a rather average brown, and his skin an unassuming white that wasn’t exceptionally tan or pale. He plopped down in the chair across from Jim with a sigh. “So, kid, Claire Nuñez is missing and you are the supposed ‘bad influence’ boyfriend. You’ve gotta know how that makes you look.”

Of course, Jim knew how that made him look. He’s had both Nuñez parents screaming at him within the past hour. “I don’t think I do,” he answered.

The officer gave Jim a flat look that clearly said he wasn’t buying it. “Whatever you say, kid. Anyway, my name is Detective Michael Decker. I’ll be taking your statement.”

“Oh,” Jim said. “Shouldn’t I have a lawyer for this?”

“Have something to hide?”

“No.” _Yes._

“Then we shouldn’t have a problem. Name and age for the record.” He pulled out a small note pad.

“Um… James Lake Junior. Sixteen.”

Detective Decker started writing. “Now, walk me through your day.”

“Well, we met up at my house like usual, that’s me, Toby and Claire-”

“Toby…” Detective Decker trailed off, gesturing for Jim to fill in the blank.

“Domzalski. Tobias Domzalski.”

Decker nodded and gestured for Jim to continue.

“Anyway, we met up at my house like we always do and headed to school.”

“And how did you get there?”

“By bike?”

“Continue.”

“We went to school. Nothing unusual happened. Classes and everything were normal. After school the three of us went over to the diner on Montez Avenue to hang out for a while. Then around four, Claire left the diner to go home. She said her family had plans, and she didn’t want to be late. Toby and I stayed for another ten minutes or so, then we left.”

“And where did you go?”

Jim hesitated for barely a second. “Home. I stayed there for a while, then realized I needed some stuff and went back out.”

Decker snorted, not looking up from his notes. “What did you need at the card shop that was so urgent.”

“Nothing,” Jim lied easily, getting in the swing of things. “I happened to be walking past it when I got the call. And it wasn’t urgent, or I would’ve taken my Vespa.”

“Well, then what were you out to buy.”

“Some tomatoes. I decided to take the time to walk, since I had it.”

“Tomatoes?” Decker looked up for the first time since he had started taking notes. “What does a kid like you need with tomatoes?”

“I do the cooking.”

Decker frowned. “And why are you the one that does the cooking? You’re sixteen.”

“Because I like cooking, I’m good at it, my mom isn’t, and it’s just the two of us, so someone has to.” Jim’s voice raised slightly as he got frustrated with the questioning. “And this has nothing to do with finding Claire!”

“And how would you know that, Mr. Chef?”

“I’m pretty sure food doesn’t factor into Missing Persons cases.”

“Fine,” Decker went back to his notes. “Can anyone confirm you were at home?”

“Toby can tell you we went home together.”

“Anyone else.”

“No. My mom isn’t going to be home until 6:30 tonight.” Jim sat up suddenly. “Wait, what time is it?”

Decker checked his watch. “About 5:15. Why?”

Jim relaxed in his seat. “I don’t want my mom to worry about me if I’m not home when she gets there. How long do you think this is going to run?”

Decker shrugged and took down more notes. “I don’t know. There’s a few more questions I need to ask and depending on those we may decide to keep you here for a while.”

Jim frowned. “Alright. What have you got left?”

“The Nuñezes seem to blame you, but they don’t think you kidnapped Claire. Well, Councilwoman Nuñez doesn’t. Mr. Nuñez might. I’m wondering why make the distinction.”

Jim shrugged. “You said it yourself. They see me as a bad influence. They probably think I convinced her to run away or introduced her to some shady people or something.”

“Did you?”

“No. Claire’s stubborn. She’s not going to do anything she doesn’t want to do and once she’s made a decision, you can’t change her mind. And I don’t even know any shady people.”

“What about that whole Luthor debacle a few weeks ago?” Decker grinned slightly like he thought he’s caught Jim in something.

Jim crossed his arms. “What Luthor deludes himself into thinking is his own fault, not mine. Hell, he made it public and Steve made it a spectacle! I did nothing!”

Decker only grinned wider.

Silence pressed down for a moment, and Jim deflated. “But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t blame me. I’d love to be able to say he would have gone for me rather than her if he wanted to get back at me, but I don’t know him well enough.” Jim rested his elbows on the table and placed his head in his hands. “You don’t think that’s what happened, do you?” His voice grew small and trailed off. Thoughts of the things Luthor would do if he wanted to use Claire to hurt him ran through his head. Things that anyone who wanted to get back at him would do if they were using Claire. Normally, he tried not to worry too much.

Jim forced himself to take a deep breath and think rationally. Claire could take care of herself. Even surprised she was a skilled fighter. Kidnapping in broad daylight wasn’t the most likely situation. No, as far as he knew, Claire’s soul was still corrupted. They had brushed it off when she stopped having episodes after the fall of Gunmar. They’d hoped that had cured her, but they could be wrong. They should have looked into it. They should have taken their reprieve to do research and figure out how to fix it. Instead they simply hoped and now they were going to pay the price.

“You’re going to want to call your mom now,” Decker said as he stood. “We need to keep you here in case there’s a ransom call.”

Jim looked up, brushing tears off his cheeks. “Ransom? You really think Luthor did this, don’t you?”

Decker shrugged. “It’s a possibility that we can’t ignore. Now, call your mom. We’ll be waiting in the living room.” With that, Jim was alone again. Or, mostly alone. There were still a few uniformed officers in the room with him.


	8. Chapter 8

Jim took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself. He was no good to anyone if he got overwhelmed by his fears. He had to be strong right now. He had to keep everything together. He pulled out his phone and dialed his mom’s number.

Barbara answered the phone on the fifth ring. “Jim? What’s up?”

“Hey, Mom.” Jim was pretty sure she could hear the exhaustion in his voice. “I- I’m over at Claire’s house. She’s missing. The-”

A sharp gasp came over the line, cutting off Jim’s rambling, monotone update. “Jim, is everyone alright!? What happened!? What’s going on!?”

“I don’t know,” Jim answered. His voice felt thick again and his eyes burned with unshed tears. “I’m alright. I’m pretty sure Toby’s fine. But…” Jim took another breath and held it for a moment. “The detectives are keeping me here. They’re expecting a ransom call or something like that.”

“Give me a few minutes. I’m on my way over. Is there anything you need? I can swing by the house.”

The very corners of Jim’s lips tugged upwards for a second. “No. I’ll be alright. I’ll see you in a few, right?”

“Of course, sweetie. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Jim could feel tears running down his face again. He brushed at them. “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

“Love you too. Stay safe.” She hung up the phone.

Jim let his hand drop and slowly rested his head on the table. He breathed slowly through his nose as he tried to get his emotions back under control. After a moment, he pushed himself back up again and stood as he pocketed his phone. He had work to do.

“Where are you going?” A voice stopped Jim. He had been moving away from the living room.

“Bathroom,” he said, not even looking at the officer that had stopped him. Jim didn’t wait for a response before continuing on his way. He needed to make sure he and Toby had their stories straight. He needed a few moments alone.

As soon as he stepped into the small guest bathroom, Jim pulled out his phone again and started tapping away. He fired off a second message to Toby. “If anyone asks,” it read, “we biked home from the diner together. Keep everyone out of sight. Delete this message.” Moments later he got a replay. “Got it. Delete.”

Jim smiled to himself. The only thing holding him together right now was his friends and his mom. His family. Without them he probably would have broken down at least three times by now. He couldn’t remember how he had managed to pull through so much without his mom. Jim carefully deleted the last two texts. Then for good measure, he deleted the third.

Jim flushed the toilet and washed his hands for the sake of keeping up the act and returned to the living room. The hustle and bustle from before was gone and a few of the officers had left. Now, there was a skeleton crew of officers to keep the house secure and the Detective Decker, his partner having left to cover other angles. The Nuñez parents sat on the couch, so Jim took a chair on the other side of the room. Mrs. Nuñez’s gaze was flat and cold, while Mr. Nuñez’s glare could have started a forest fire in a downpour. Both of them were more terrifying than Batman.

Enrique stood and gripped the side of his playpen, babbling. “Mama,” he managed. “Mama.”

The tension began to fade slightly as Mrs. Nuñez put on a strained smile for her son and picked him up. She babbled back to him and cooed in Spanish. Mr. Nuñez sent Jim one last glare before stating that he was going to cook some food for everyone and leaving the room.

“I could…” Jim started before trailing off when he realized his help was unwanted and his offer unheard.

Time crawled by slower than a snail. Jim stared blankly at his knees and tried to keep his mind from wandering to Claire's current predicament as he slumped further and further in his claimed chair.

A knock at the door startled everyone and the officer by the door placed a hand on his gun as he cracked the door open. After a quick glance outside, he relaxed and opened the door to reveal Dr. Lake and admit her into the house.

Barbara said nothing as she swept into the room. She dropped a few bags on the floor and quickly swept her son up into a firm hug.

After a moment an uncomfortable cough caused the pair to break apart. “Dr. Lake,” Detective Decker said, “if you would step out for a moment, I would like to ask a few questions.”

Barbara watched the man for a moment before nodding. She placed a quick kiss on Jim’s forehead and followed Decker. Jim sighed and settled back into the chair he had claimed.

 

* * *

 

The flight to Arcadia was somewhat tense. Batman had quietly pulled up Arcadia’s police records to discover that Claire was still missing and not only was Jim a suspect, despite his alibi with the League, but so was Lex Luthor. In an attempt to clear things up, get the Team to practice discretion and investigation skills, and make sure Luthor didn’t manage to get his hooks in Jim, Batman dispatched the Team. The Team was understandably concerned.

_“Should I link Jim in?”_ M’gann asked as Robin knocked on the front door of the Nuñez house.

There was a slight hesitation, before Aqualad nodded. _“We know Jim is not responsible, and now may be a good time to ask him why the connection behaves differently with him.”_

The door opened to reveal a confused officer. Batman had said he was going to call ahead, but clearly this officer hadn’t gotten the memo yet. After a moment of looking the teens over the officer finally spoke. “Names and business,” he said, hand still resting on his gun.

“We are here to speak with Detective Decker,” Aqualad answered. “He will know who we are.”

The officer’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. He closed the door.

_“He’s talking to Decker,”_ Superboy reported.

The door opened again a moment later. A middle-aged man in a common work suit opened the door. He glanced at the teens before scowling. “Get in,” he ordered.

The Team filled in and immediately began spreading out to cover the entrances and get a feel for the layout of the house. Not that Robin hadn’t found the layout in public documents and shared with the others already.

“When the Bat said he was taking over the investigation I was expecting him, not a bunch of kids,” Decker grumbled.

“We can show more discretion in delicate matters,” Aqualad answered. “We do not want anyone to know the League has taken an interest in this case.”

_“Jim’s kinda… out of it,”_ Robin said suddenly over the link.

Aqualad did not turn around to look. Others in better positions did subtly shift their gaze to check on him. Sure enough, Jim only seemed partially there. He was clearly watching everything that went on, but he looked like he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care much.

_“He’s already losing hope,”_ Artemis said, recognizing the look on his face from her friends and neighbors. They all knew the look. If someone went missing around there you would be lucky to find the body. _“He doesn’t think we’ll be able to do much good.”_

“Here’s my notes,” Decker said, with a scowl still fixed on his face. “I’ll leave some officers here in case you need them.”

“Thank you.” Aqualad gave a small polite smile as he took the case notes.

Decker grumbled again and quickly left.

_“Link Jim in,”_ Aqualad ordered over the link as he turned. “Superboy, Artemis, I want you on perimeter,” he said out loud. “Miss Martian, take to the skies in camouflage mode. Kid, start canvassing. Robin, I want you with me going over the notes.”

Each team member followed the instructions without question. _“Jim, you doing alright?”_ M’gann asked as she patched the other teen in.

At first Jim didn’t answer while Aqualad began offering assurances to the Nuñez parents, causing a ripple of concern from M’gann.

_“What do you think,”_ came Jim’s staticky grumble.

_“You guys weren’t kidding when you said it was weird with him,”_ Artemis mused, mostly to herself.

_“What is that supposed to mean!?”_ Jim’s anger and frustration latched onto the first thing it could but was only noticeable through his overly hostile tone.

_“The mind link doesn’t seem to work properly with you,”_ M’gann answered distractedly as she did a brief check of the emotions in the neighboring houses. No extreme fear or terror. _“You sound really staticky-”_

_“Like a really old radio or walkie talkie,”_ Robin added on as he entered the kitchen to go over the detective’s notes.

_“Exactly,”_ M’gann continued. _“And normally we can pick up some basic emotions from other people in the link. Just really simple stuff. It’s kinda like being able to pick up the currents of their thoughts, but we don’t hear them unless they actually put it into words.”_

_"With you there is nothing,”_ Aqualad said, taking over. _“There are only the thoughts you want us to hear. We cannot feel any deeper currents or motion. You may as well not be there if you don’t say anything.”_

For a long moment Jim didn’t respond, considering possible causes and effects. The Amulet was the only real option. _“Odd,”_ he finally said, calm once more, _“it seems to go both ways though. You all seem like that to me. Besides feeling that the connection exists, I don’t get anything other than actual thoughts and words from you guys.”_

“Mr. Lake,” Aqualad said as he finished with the Nuñez parents, “a word.” He gestured for Jim to follow him into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Kaldur directed Jim to sit at the island. “Where are the cups?” he asked.

“Um, third cabinet on the right,” Jim answered. “Why?”

Kaldur passed Jim a glass of water by way of explanation.

“Oh, thanks.” Jim took a sip. “So, what do you want to know?”

“You lied to the detectives,” Robin said as he continued going through the notes. “Why?”

Jim gave him a flat look. “I’m not about to admit to knowing the League anywhere it could become public record. That’s why you’re here isn’t it? Batman stuck his nose in and found something interesting and sent you to clean it up? How long do you think before someone else notices? It won’t just be whatever happened at the museum I’ll have to worry about any more if that happens. As much as I like you guys, I didn’t ask for this.”

Robin and Aqualad shared a look as Jim took another sip of water. “You also seem, unusually hopeless. She has been gone for four hours and you’re acting like she has been killed,” Aqualad said carefully.

Jim took another sip and stared at the table as he contemplated his answer. With a sigh, he began slowly. “Claire can look after herself. At least as well as I can.” Jim gave Robin a meaningful look. “And she wouldn’t have gone without a fight. Especially not in broad daylight. Especially not when she had somewhere to be. Everything else is… illogical fears based on my past. I’m… I’m not used to people coming back if they disappear.” Jim did not meet their eyes. Jim did not mention his own enemies that didn’t take prisoners and didn’t grasp the concept of a hostage. He didn’t mention his enemies that did understand hostages and would never call if they thought he wasn’t alone. He did not tell them how helpless he felt knowing he had to play the role of the normal teenager while Claire was in danger or worse.

Jim also did not see the pair exchange another look.

“That,” Robin began, “is also something you usually tell the police.”

Jim didn’t answer, lost in his own thoughts as he slowly sipped at the water in his glass.

“Jim,” Kaldur said quietly as he placed a hand on Jim’s shoulder. Jim tensed and went still as a deer in headlights before relaxing again and turning his gaze to the older teen. “We will find her. You have my word.”

Jim snorted and drank the last of his water. “Thanks.” He put the glass in the dishwasher and returned to the living room, where he sat next to his mom and tuned out the world.

_“M’gann, limit the link to the Team,”_ Kaldur said.

_“... Done. Why are we cutting off Jim?”_

_“He needs some time,”_ Robin answered, _“and we should prepare for the worst. Kid, you find anything yet?”_

_“Nope,”_ Wally said, skidding to a stop. _“I wish I knew what route she was supposed to take. It would make it a lot easier to find something to work with.”_

_“Now there’s something we should have asked Jim,”_ Artemis said.

_“Got something!”_ Wally crowed. _“What kind of bike does she ride?”_

_“Robin, start looking into Luthor,”_ Aqualad instructed as he returned to the living room. “What kind of bike does Claire ride?”

There was a brief exchange of glances before Mrs. Nuñez answered. “A white one, fairly standard model. A Diamondback, I think. Why?”

_“White Diamondback.”_

_“Found it. It was ditched in a back alley. It’s a little banged up, but that could be normal wear and tear.”_

“We have found it in a back alley.”

Mr. Nuñez stood and moved forward. “But what does that mean?”

“We do not know yet. We only just found it.”

“That’s more progress in a few minutes than the police made in a few hours,” Mrs. Nuñez muttered. She stood. “I’m going upstairs to make sure Enrique is actually asleep.”

Aqualad nodded his understanding. _“M’gann, go help Kid Flash track Claire’s path from the alleyway.”_

From there the hours dragged by with no progress. The Team kept contact with the Nuñezes and Jim to a minimum, so they wouldn’t have to tell them there was no more news or, worse, that they had lost the trail.

_“It doesn’t make sense!”_ Wally complained into the link. _“There should have been something!”_

_“We’re in a city, Wally,”_ Artemis said. _“People don’t leave tracks on pavement.”_

_“Sorry, guys,”_ Robin said as he finally returned from hunting through Luthor’s files. _“There’s nothing incriminating that I could find. He’s just too good at this.”_

_“Someone’s approaching from the forest,”_ Superboy said as he heard the distinct sound of human footsteps.

M’gann, who had returned to the house after running a thorough sweep of the area with Wally, and Artemis converged on the back of the house. Ready to fight or take a message, which ever was needed. Stumbling step by step, a teenage girl stepped out of the forest.

Saying she looked exhausted would be an understatement. She was slumped and barely staying on her feet. Her clothes were rumpled, and her hair was coming undone. Her knuckles were scrapped and bruised. The strangest part though, and the most concerning, was the black lines around her eyes and hands that were slowly receding as though they were releasing her.

Shock and surprise and relief flooded the mind link as a chorus of _“Claire”_ s echoed. Superboy rushed forward and caught the girl before she could hit the ground. Inside the house, Robin and Aqualad sat straight up, waiting for a report, and Jim began watching the two more closely.

_“She’s exhausted,”_ M’gann reported, _“and a little battered. It looks like she put up a fight.”_

As the black marks faded, more bruises and scrapes on her arms and head became more visible. _“We should take her to the hospital,”_ Superboy added.

_“I’m calling an ambulance,”_ Robin said as he started dialing it in.

_“I’ll be faster,”_ Wally argued, altering his course to take him back to the house.

_“Negative, Kid,”_ Aqualad cut in, _“we do not know the extent of her injuries. Your speed could worsen her condition.”_

_“Agreed,”_ M’gann continued, _“Conner, can you set her on the ground carefully.”_

Superboy nodded and slowly, gently, lowered Claire the rest of the way to the ground.

She groaned softly and blinked, awake and aware for just a moment, struggling to keep her eyes open. “Jim?” she rasped. “Jim?”

“It’s okay,” Artemis said in a low soothing voice. “You’re safe now. We’ve got you.”

“Where’s… Jim?” Claire said, trailing off as she lost consciousness again.

_“We should call this into the League as well,”_ M’gann said once Claire was out again.

_"We will be-”_

Superboy interrupted Kaldur. _“She means right now. Something is very wrong with Claire. Odds are the hospital won’t be able to help with that.”_

_"_ _What happened?”_ Aqualad asked. He received a mental image of Claire, her face covered in dark marks, in response.

_"The marks faded not long after she got here,”_ said Artemis.

Aqualad nodded, mostly to himself. _“Artemis, make the call. I will talk to Jim and her parents.”_

Aqualad turned to the civilians in the room, carefully placing himself between them and the door. “We found her,” exclamations of relief filled the room. “She is in the backyard-”

Jim was on his feet and starting for the door in an instant. Kaldur grabbed his arm before he could make it very far. “She is unconscious and needs space. An ambulance is on its way. You will have to wait in here for the time being.”

Jim glared at Kaldur for several long seconds, before stalking back to his seat. Mr. and Mrs. Nuñez held a quiet debate, before deciding that Mr. Nuñez would ride in the ambulance with Claire and Mrs. Nuñez would stay home with Enrique. She would visit in the morning. Jim shared a look with his mom, which was all he needed for both of them to come to the conclusion that they would be following the ambulance to the hospital.


	9. Chapter 9

On the way to the hospital, Jim called Toby.

“Hey, Jim. What’s the news?”

“Claire’s back. I haven’t gotten to see her yet. We’re on our way to the hospital.”

A sigh of relief came over the line. “That’s good. That she’s back. Not that she’s in the hospital. I’m going to run down to Trollmarket, get Blinky and the others up to date.”

“Thanks, Tobes. I’ll try and keep you guys in the loop.”

“Yeah, good luck, man. Take care.”

Even when they arrived, Jim and Barbara still had to wait out in the lobby while Claire was processed and patched up, and the doctors took samples for the League to look at. Everyone acknowledged that the hospital stood no chance of identifying what those marks were. Time ticked and crawled, and Jim grew more and more restless. Now that he knew Claire was safe, he wanted to be next to her, keep her in his sight until her was sure she would be alright. But he had to wait.

Barbara wanted to pull strings to get back there and bring her son some news, but that would require going on duty and Jim needed her right now. It wouldn’t help.

A man with a nice showman’s suit complete with yellow vest and red bowtie stepped into the lobby from the hospital. He glanced around for a moment before his eyes landed on Jim. His cane tapped on the floor as he approached the Lakes. “Jim Lake, correct?” he asked in an Italian accent.

Jim nodded.

“Giovanni Zatara,” he introduced himself. “Please, with me.” Zatara turned and strode back towards the rest of the hospital. Jim didn’t hesitate for a second before following the Leaguer.

Zatara lead them through the maze of hallways as various doctors and nurses greeted the Lakes. He finally pushed through a door to their destination, revealing Claire, asleep on a bed, and Mr. Nuñez in the chair next to her.

“Claire,” Jim whispered before pushing into the room and moving to take the chair opposite Mr. Nuñez. Jim grabbed Claire’s hand and simply held it, taking in the girl he loved. She had some bandages on her knuckles and a few bruises on her face along with a minor scrape or two. Beyond that, she looked fine, just tired and peacefully resting. A shuddering breath escaped his lungs as the stress and fear of the past six or seven hours faded. Tears of relief gathered at the corners of his eyes and he slumped into the chair, energy draining.

“Why are they here.” Mr. Nuñez bit out, glaring at Zatara.

“I need to check your daughter for magical influences, Mr. Nuñez. You believe Mr. Lake to be at fault. If she was possessed or magically coerced, it will be all that much easier to tell if he was involved if he is here.” Zatara kept his voice level and professional.

Jim felt his heart stutter. The number of ways it could go wrong were numerous.

Zatara ignored Mr. Nuñez as the man attempted to spit out more questions and lifted his arms, incanting in a language Jim couldn’t recognize. The air shifted and stirred around them. The lights dimmed and flickered. A moment later, everything stopped. Zatara dropped his arms, hands shaking and his face pale.

“I-” he began, “I have never felt something quite like that.”

Mr. Nuñez elected to ignore the teen in front of him and focused on the more immediate problem. “What? What is it?”

“There is a powerful dark influence on your daughter’s mind, Mr. Nuñez. It is currently dormant, but I have no doubt it was active recently.”

Mr. Nuñez spun back towards Jim, face contorting in rage. His mouth opened, but before he could utter a single word, Zatara intervened. “ _Ecnelis!_ ” Mr. Nuñez sputtered in silence as he discovered he couldn’t say anything.

“Mr. Nuñez,” Zatara said carefully, “This kind of magic would leave a mark on the caster. Mr. Lake does not have such a blemish on his soul. He is innocent.” The magician's voice grew harder and more insistent. “This has been quite the ordeal for both of you and continuing to blame and attack him for something he has nothing to do with does not help.”

Silence filled the room. Eventually, Mr. Nuñez deflated and fell back into his chair, nodding his understanding.

Zatara took a calming breath and continued. “It will take time for me to isolate the spells necessary to truly remove this… curse. In the meantime,” Zatara pulled a talisman strung on a necklace out of his pocket, “this should keep them out, keep her in control of her own body.” Zatara waved a hand and released the spell holding Mr. Nuñez’s voice.

“Please,” Mr. Nuñez said as he took the talisman, “thank the sidekicks for finding her. I never actually got that chance to.”

Jim resisted rolling his eyes. If Claire had been possessed, she was brought back by the possessor, not the Team.

Regardless of the circumstances, Zatara nodded and, after a quick nod to the Lakes in farewell, left.

Jim felt his eyelids beginning to droop as the last of the adrenaline and worry left his body. His head began to loll slightly to one side, but Jim shook himself awake. He didn’t know how long Mr. Nuñez was going to let him stay here and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself by tripping over his own feet on the way out.

While Jim slowly slipped from the land of the waking, Barbara placed a hand on Mr. Nuñez’s shoulder. The man spared her a glance and sighed in defeat. “I know. I know,” he said. “My reaction was… less than helpful. Zatara already made that plenty clear.”

“I would have used the term ‘actively harmful,’” Barbara said, “but I’m willing to look past that on one condition.”

Mr. Nuñez looked like he wanted to argue but restrained himself and nodded.

Barbara allowed a soft smile to tug at her lips. “Try and see Jim for who he is rather than just his past mistakes. And definitely as more than just your daughter’s boyfriend. Jim’s done what he can to make up for those fiascos, and he really loves Claire.” Mr. Nuñez moved to speak, but Barbara cut him off with a raised hand. “I know you want to keep Claire safe and you’re just looking out for your little girl. I’d probably be the same if things were reversed. That’s why I’m giving you this chance. That and it won’t do them any good if we’re fighting, too. Just… let them be teenagers and figure this out for themselves and be ready to pick up the pieces or ring the wedding bells, which ever it may be.”

Mr. Nuñez thought for a moment and glanced over at his daughter. Jim had long since fallen asleep at this point, but even slumped as he was, he managed to keep a hold of Claire’s hand. He turned back to Barbara. “You’re right, Dr. Lake. I suppose I should thank you as well.”

Barbara laughed softly. “Anything for them.”

Mr. Nuñez nodded, a smile of his own crossing his face as he yawned and settled back into his chair. “And where will you be sleeping, Dr. Lake?” he asked.

“I’ll steal another chair. It’s not like I’ll need to worry about being late to work tomorrow.”

Mr. Nuñez laughed one last time before falling asleep himself.

Claire would wake the next morning aching and confused, but relieved to find her knight in glowing armor waiting, and sleeping, at her bedside.

 

* * *

 

“Recognized. James Lake Junior, A-1-4.”

Jim yawned as he stepped out of the powering down Zeta Tube. The last few days had been hectic to say the least. After Claire had woken up in the hospital on Thursday, they both had been given the day off from school to recover. That night they had met up at Binky’s library to do some more mostly hopeless research and debate what to do. Turned out the possessing force had tossed Claire’s horngazel, Shadow Staff, and a few troll books through a portal into the Heartstone before returning her home. They took that to mean it was going to use her again and didn’t want her to be found with magic items. They also figured out rather quickly what Claire had done while possessed. Or at least part of it. She had chipped off quite a few pieces of the Heartstone, tipping the balance in favor of the corruption. Trollmarket was dim now, and its inhabitants moved through a dull, depressing haze. They seemed to brighten up whenever Jim and the Amulet were near, but beyond that, most of Trollmarket’s inhabitants were giving up hope. So, they decided to take precautions. The Staff was locked in the Vault to keep Claire from using it while possessed, and Blinky was actively sending out scouting parties and contacting trolls around the world to try and find a Heartstone before the current one faded completely. They estimated it had ten years.

On top of that plant creatures had attacked all over the world the day following, leaving everyone exhausted from trying to keep the roots from damaging or exposing Trollmarket while also trying to get people to safety on the surface without blowing their cover.

So, now the teens had to deal with schoolwork, the League, Trollhunter work, and trying to not freak out over the continued soul corruption. Overall, Jim was glad to get away from it all for a few hours.

Not seeing anyone, Jim decided to go to the Souvenir room again. It had been awhile since he had last been there. Once he stepped into the mostly bare room, Jim decided to try and match the trinkets with the stories he had heard. The mask was from the Santa Prisca mission where Kaldur had been elected leader. The eye…the only robot it could have come from is Mister Twister. There was an arrow… Jim wasn’t sure where it was from originally, but the tip had melted slightly from when Artemis had used it to set off the EMP when the Reds attacked. Then came Cheshire’s mask. That was from when the Team had defended Dr. Roquette from the League of Shadows. The Helmet of Fate was obvious. Then came a beret, which Jim also couldn’t place. The last item was a piece of torn fabric that looked like it had belonged to Count Vertigo from the Injustice League, which would mean it was from the Team’s most recent mission.

“Oh, hey, Jim,” Robin said, spotting Jim as he had walked past the room. “What’re you doing here?”

Jim shrugged. “It’s been awhile since I was last in here. Figured I might as well take a look.” Jim nodded to the torn fabric. “You guys went up against the Injustice League, huh?”

“Yeah, turns out they were the ones getting all those villains to cooperate with each other. They figured that since we knew they were out there, they might as well show themselves.”

Jim didn’t think that made much sense. Either the plants and ransom were their final plan, or they were taking credit for someone else’s accomplishments. No matter how much Jim and the others knew about changelings or their plans, they never came forward and revealed everything. It was counter intuitive. Jim let it go and nodded. A random civilian like him shouldn’t really notice that. “Anyway,” he said, “I should probably check in. Who’s the den mother today?”

“Zatara. I think he’s been hoping to talk to you,” Robin answered.

Jim nodded, and gestured for Robin to walk with him as he went. “Anything else interesting happen since Wednesday?”

“Not really. Wally broke his arm during the fight, and Kaldur had to resort to putting on the Helmet. I’m honestly a little surprised everything worked out. Did Arcadia get hit?”

“Oddly enough, yes. I think Luthor called in a few favors to try and prove a point. I mean, there isn’t anything in Arcadia. There were only a few plants, though, so damages weren’t all that bad and no one died.”

Robin glanced over. “Didn’t the League help out?”

Jim shook his head. “No, I don’t think the League even knew. It was just a few plants and Arcadia is _not_ a high priority target.”

Robin nodded. “How’s Claire?”

“Recovering,” Jim sighed. “We’re all still a little jumpy after that.” The pair crossed through the sitting room. “Hey, Superboy. Hey, M’gann.”

Superboy grunted a greeting and M’gann glanced up from her cooking to give Jim a brief nod before turning her attention back to the recipe.

Robin and Jim kept walking, heading towards some of the side rooms that were used as office spaces or spare bedrooms. They came to a stop at Canary’s office and Robin knocked. “Come in!” Zatara called.

“I’ll see you around,” Robin said as he turned and left Jim to handle the League member alone.

Jim pushed through the door to see both Zatara and Canary chatting.

“Ah, Jim,” Zatara greeted. “I was hoping I would catch you. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“And Claire?”

Jim winced at the further reminder. “She’ll be alright. Most of her injuries were superficial and she doesn’t seem too worried about the whole possession thing with the talisman you gave her.” More lies. Blinky didn’t expect the talisman to do much against the corruption the Shadow Staff had implanted in Claire. Claire was, understandably, far more than just a little rattled.

“Good, good,” Zatara said. “I am glad to hear she is recovering so quickly. Now, I did not get a chance to ask at the hospital, but do you know of anything that could have caused this? Strange items she found recently? An interest in the occult? Maybe she upset someone?”

Jim gave Zatara an odd look that clearly said he had questions, or he tried to. The way his hands fiddled nervously would have blown his cover if anyone had cared to look. “No,” he answered simply. “Claire’s pretty normal in that way. She might have angered someone, but nothing worth that and certainly not anyone that would be capable of this.”

“Can you elaborate on that?” Canary interjected, taking a seat in her usual chair.

Jim rolled his eyes. “We’re teenagers. High schoolers. People get upset over the stupidest things and everyone’s pissed off someone. But it’s always other high schoolers. Maybe a teacher or two. Things like this don’t happen. No one’s going to possess someone and make them disappear for eight hours because they didn’t get the part in the school’s play that most people aren’t going to even see.”

“I agree that that is a particularly petty reason, but it did happen, so petty is what we’re looking at,” Canary said. “Unless you have something you want to share.”

Jim shook his head. “Maybe there’s something I don’t know, but I doubt it, and I also doubt it was anyone from my school.”

“So be it,” Zatara said. “If anything, new comes up, tell us.”

Jim nodded. “I will. Anything else you wanted to ask me?”

Zatara shook his head and glanced over at Canary. “I have a few things I would like to talk to you about,” she said. “Zatara, if you could give us some privacy?”

“Of course,” he said with a slight nod. “I will see you later.”


	10. Chapter 10

Once Zatara left Canary gestured to the seat opposite her. “Please take a seat.” When Jim sat, she continued. “I just wanted to check in on how you’re handling everything that’s happened. You’ve been subjected to a lot of dangerous and high stress situations these past few weeks.”

Jim blinked. He had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to handle this. How would he have reacted before he became the Trollhunter? He would have freaked out and started babbling about nearly dying. But that was an initial reaction that Jim decidedly hadn’t had after the Reds attacked the cave and nearly killed them. _Superboy_ had had more of an emotional reaction to that than Jim had. Admittedly, they thought Jim had gone into shock.

“It’s sobering,” he finally said, “seeing that heroes can be hurt. I mean, I knew that, but I don’t think I had quite processed it until the whole thing with the Reds.”

Canary nodded, “Do you find that distressing?”

“Maybe a little, but,” Jim shrugged, “no one was ever really invincible. Even Superman has weaknesses.”

Canary frowned but chose not to comment. “You told Robin and Kaldur that you don’t expect people to come back while they were looking for Claire. Could you explain that for me?”

Jim had never been more glad his dad had left. Now, he had an excuse. “Um…” he shifted awkwardly, “my dad left when I was five. Rumor is he ran off with his girlfriend. Haven’t heard anything from him since.”

“That must have been distressing.”

Jim shrugged. “Most of the time it’s just something that happened. Wednesday… I guess it just kinda hit me all over again how easy it is for people to just disappear from your life.” Forget how many times it had hit him for very different reasons. Forget that he was more worried about her dying than simply leaving. Forget the helplessness.

“Still,” Canary said, “it must have been hard.”

“It was harder on my mom than me. She was still in med school, and I didn’t really understand that he wasn’t coming back until later.”

Canary nodded to herself and thought for a moment. “Have the events of these last few weeks affected the rest of your life?”

“In what ways?”

Canary thought for a moment. “Have you felt… unusually tense or stressed? Has your sleeping pattern been disrupted? Have you been thinking about it at odd times or avoiding thinking about it entirely, even when it makes sense to think about it?”

If Jim ignored the fact that Canary was talking about the last two weeks specifically, he would say yes to all of that. Of course, suddenly having to train and fight at night while also juggling homework and chores would disrupt his sleep schedule, even if he ignored the nightmares that still plagued him from his first fights against Bular, Draal, and Angor Rot and from the Darklands, the Deep, and that night at the Museum. Of course, he was tense when he wasn’t even safe at school in daylight. Of course, he was stressed when he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Young Atlas indeed. And he still couldn’t keep his family safe.

Jim shook his head. “I guess I’m still a little more worried about Claire than usual,” understatement, but accurate, “but I’m trying not to smother her. I know she can look after herself, and there’s not much I can do about this anyway.”

Canary gave Jima soft smile. “You’re handling this better than I would have expected,” she said.

Jim forced his face to remain neutral. Did she suspect?

“If anything changes, or you just want to talk, my door is always open.”

Jim nodded and stood, an attempt at an easy smile stretching his lips. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jim was rather distracted as he wandered through the mountain. His thoughts strayed over a variety of topics, but most of the time he was thinking about everything that had happened since he found the Amulet in the canals. The idea that he had been digging through Kanjigar’s remains was still something that messed with him. Jim paused as he was about to pass the kitchen. He always processed this kind of stuff better when he was cooking, but it also usually resulted in some odd flavor combinations and more than a few tears. His hands itched to go through the soothing motions of making something, but he knew he couldn’t afford to show those kinds of emotions right now. It would attract too much attention.

Jim kept walking, promising himself that he would cook as soon as he got home to still his hands. He could feel his eyes beginning to burn as he fought against the torrent of emotions.

Finally, he made it to the Zeta Tubes. He quickly entered his desired location and continued forward, destination at the forefront of his mind in an attempt to drown out everything else.

“Recognized. James Lake Junior, A-1-4.”

 

* * *

 

“Recognized. Zatara, 1-1.” The computer announced as the Zeta Tubes slowed and revealed the magician.

Jim glanced over at Zatara, turning from the Team’s sparring, not including Wally. Jim yawned. The last week had been a bit rough on Jim. He hadn’t slept well and found his thoughts being drawn more and more to various things he didn’t want to think about. Vendel’s death and Usurna’s betrayal for one. He still couldn’t help but feel like he should have been able to-

“Access granted. Zatanna Zatara, A-0-3. Authorization: Zatara, 1-1.”

Jim shook himself out of his thoughts again. He needed to pay attention. Canary was literally right there. If he lost himself in the memories, she was bound to ask questions.

“Zatanna,” Zatara said, calling Jim’s attention to the teenage girl who had stepped through the Zeta Tube, “this is the Team. Team, my daughter, Zatanna.”

“Hi!” M’gann greeted in her usual friendly fashion, “I’m-”

“Robin!” Robin jumped in, unable to restrain himself. “I mean, I’m Robin. She’s Megan, and that’s Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, and Connor. Oh, and that’s Jim.”

Jim gave a smile and nod to Zatanna in greeting.

“Welcome to the Cave,” Kaldur greeted, dipping his head slightly.

“Thanks,” Zatanna said. She seemed a little nervous, but Jim had no doubt that she would settle in quickly.

“So, uh, ya- uh- are you joining the Team?” Robin asked, catching Zatara’s attention.

Zatara immediately stepped into the Team’s conversation. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “This is strictly a visit.” He turned to Canary as she approached the group. “But I am sorry we missed the training. It’s something from which Zatanna could benefit.”

Jim kept his attention on the two adults as they wandered away from the group of teens. The Team wasn’t exactly saying much anyway.

“Giovanni, it’s good to see you. Have you made any progress on the Dallas case?”

“No, all I have to work with is grainy footage of someone creating shadow portals and dumping strange objects into the acid vats. They were careful. Nothing was left behind, their face was never on camera, no guards ever saw them, and they never put enough of the material into the vats for us to be able to identify it. There is one thing, though. The residual energy is similar to what I felt from the Nuñez girl. The problem is that she does not match the build of the perpetrator, and she was gone for far longer.”

Jim forced himself to remain neutral. The doctors at the hospital, and Barbara once she got her hands on the files, said Claire’s injuries were more consistent with someone throwing themselves at a wall than a fight. The bits of rock found in her scraped knuckles only furthered the theory. At least now they knew what had happened to the Heartstone chunks, even if they did need to track down another player.

“That’s odd. Do you want to talk to her again?” Canary asked.

Zatara shook his head. “She does not remember anything, unless there is another incident, there is nothing more I can get from her. My search of the school was interesting, though.”

“Oh?”

Giovanni nodded. “While I didn’t pick up anything from the school itself or anything from the students and staff present that day, there was a massive mystic force. By the way it spread out and flowed through the land, it was certainly natural, even if it did feel somewhat sick. Nothing like hers, though.”

"Are you guys having a psychic conversation?” Zatanna spoke up. “‘Cause I can’t decide if that’s cool or really rude?” Jim pulled his attention back to the Team. Zatara and Canary stopped talking.

Jim barely suppressed a laugh. “That’s a mood,” he said.

All attention was on the Team now.

“Fine,” Superboy finally broke, “We were talking about Tornado. It’s been weeks since the attack and the League hasn’t told us anything.”

Jim wasn’t entirely sure why the Team was so ready and willing to fight someone that nearly killed them last time. Maybe it was a pride thing.

“The League is searching for Tornado,” Canary said in a carefully measured voice, “as well as the other androids that invaded the Cave and their creator, T. O. Morrow. Batman’s made tracking them down our highest priority.”

“But you’ve found none of the above,” Robin said. Jim shook his head slightly, these kids had to have a death wish or something. They didn’t need to get involved, and here they were demanding to be let in.

"Not yet, but Tornado is Justice League,” Canary’s voice was starting to take a calm edge that made Jim want to tell the Team to drop it and shut up. They could only push this so far before there were consequences. “The Team is not to pursue this.”

Zatara spoke up, trying to diffuse the tension and distract the Team. “Why don’t you take Zatanna on a, uh,” Zatara looked around confused by his daughter’s sudden disappearance, “a tour of the Cave?” Everyone was looking around now, eventually finding Zatanna resting against Wolf’s side. The general thought of “how?” was almost palpable in the air.

“You’re giving a tour of the Cave?” Captain Marvel said as he flew back into the room with a plate of hot nachos. Wolf was up in an instant, eyes locked on the food as he moved closer, tongue lolling hopefully from his mouth. “Cool!”

Superboy stepped up to the older hero. “Actually,” he said, “I was hoping you’d take Wolf outside,” he gestured to the salivating wolf that was still staring down the nachos. “He needs the exercise. We’ll join you in a few.”

“Sure, sure,” Marvel said excitedly, “I can do that! Come on, Wolf!” Marvel began fly out of the cave, Wolf on his heels. Jim was fairly certain Wolf was only following for the food.

“Wha- my nachos!” Wally groaned.

Jim snickered slightly. “We can always get you more, Wally,” he said as Superboy grabbed onto Wally’s shirt and tugged him along with the rest of the group. Jim could barely keep himself from laughing at their antics and settled for an amused smile instead.

The tour didn’t last long. The Team had barely made it into the sitting room and kitchen before everything fell apart. Zatanna disappeared for barely even a second and reappeared in a completely different outfit. Whereas before she was wearing a more feminine version of her father’s suit, now she was wearing a casual light purple tank top and white capris.

“When did you-? How did you-?” Robin stuttered.

“We’re not really taking a tour, are we?” Zatanna asked, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

“Oh, I like you,” Jim said. This girl paid attention and knew what was going on. She’d only just met these kids and she could already spot the patterns.

“Actually,” Zatanna said turning towards Jim, “first, who are you?”

Jim grinned even wider. “Jim Lake. Batman’s keeping an eye on me.” He shrugged. “I mostly just check in once a week.”

“So…"

“Civilian,” Jim confirmed with a nod.

“Right… back to the original question. No tour, or have I read this all wrong?”

“No tour,” Superboy confirmed. “We’re hunting down that robot.” He turned to Kaldur as though checking for a confirmation.

Kaldur nodded. “Yes, we are.”

“Oh, wow, out loud and everything,” Zatanna teased.

Jim bit down on his lip to keep from laughing.

“What about new girl?” Artemis asked. “And Jim?”

“I’m sure she won’t tell,” Robin said.

Jim barely had time to process that they were talking like he and Zatanna weren’t even there before Zatanna answered. “I can’t tell,” she said. “Not if you kidnap me.”

“Oh, she’s going to fit in great,” Artemis smiled. Then her face dropped into a serious expression again. “But, again, Jim? We can’t exactly take a civilian with us.”

Jim rolled his eyes. “Jim is currently wondering why you’re all so eager to go after someone that kicked your butts last time. You nearly died, and you just want to go at it again? And if you’re so worried about me tattling, just leave me in the Bioship.”

“We nearly die on a regular basis. It’s a part of the gig,” Robin answered with a shrug.

Well, yes, but that usually meant you needed more training or information. They did not have more information. If anything, they had less. Jim raised an eyebrow. “You all seemed a lot more concerned about the near-death experience when it happened. Now you’re going to charge off to confront mostly unknowns on their own turf with no backup? How is that not suicidal?”

“We know what they can do now,” Wally insisted. “We’ll be fine.”

“And,” Jim continued to argue, “if Red Tornado is the traitor you think he is, they still know a lot more about you than you know about them. You don’t even know if it’ll just be them or what kind of security they’ll have!”

“We’re wasting time,” Superboy said, cutting off the argument. “We can figure out what to do about that when we actually have a location. Now, are you coming with us, or are you going to tell Canary.”

Jim glared at Superboy for a moment, then nodded as the heat left his eyes. “So long as no one knows I’m there, as in ‘no one knows Jim Lake is there,’ we shouldn’t have a problem.”

“What are you worried so about?” Zatanna asked as the group started walking.

Jim glanced over as he followed. “Luthor,” was the only answer he offered before the group of teenage heroes loaded into the newly configured Bioship and took off.


	11. Chapter 11

Jim sighed as he waited alone in the Bioship. He had managed to tell his mom he was probably going to be out late, so she wasn’t worrying, but Jim had plenty to think about. The conversation the Team had with Zatanna about what she could and couldn’t do had hardly left Jim feeling much better about having Zatara poking his nose into Arcadia’s business. Seeing her make Professor Ivo spill his secrets up close while under a disguise created by Zatanna and the Team’s wonderfully creative pseudonym of “Jay” hadn’t really helped. All it would take for everything to unravel would be her directing that spell at him.

After the Team had gotten a location out of Ivo- Jim wasn’t sure if he should be impressed that they thought to ask Morrow’s rival or disappointed that Batman hadn’t- Jim tried and failed to convince the Team to take the information to the League and let them handle it. Hence, sitting alone in the Bioship and avoiding whatever combat inevitably ensued. And hoping everyone came back in one piece.

Jim’s mind wandered back to the helplessness he felt when Claire disappeared. It made him understand how the other’s must have felt when he left for the Darklands. Or at least part of it. That part alone was enough to make him feel like a total ass. From there his mind would inevitably begin berating him and telling him they should have left him to rot for all the loyalty he’d shown and all the trouble he’d caused them with one impulsive decision. He really didn’t deserve them. It was a minor miracle that he hadn’t started self-sabotaging his relationships yet. The presence of people who’d done worse and were still considered worthy of some kind of relationship was probably helping considerably.

A massive explosion rocked the ground, rattled through Jim’s bones, and set his ears ringing. Jim was on his feet and running before he could even truly process it. The base the Team was attempting to infiltrate was a good distance away. More than just a good distance away, actually. There wasn’t much around here that could cause that big of an explosion.

Jim slowed his pace for a moment as he thought about just what he was doing. He couldn’t help the Team at all without his armor, and he couldn’t afford to be seen or, rather, identified wearing it.

Jim’s pace picked up again as he came to a decision. Reaching into his pocket, Jim pulled out the Amulet, relaxing ever so slightly under the familiar blue glow. “For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is Mine to Command,” Jim whispered. The magic lifted Jim in a swirl of blue light as the armor appeared and attached itself to him before depositing him back on the ground. Jim then called on his helmet to hide his face.

The forest was dark, but Jim remembered which way the Team had gone and now had the faint light of his armor to see by. Finally, the trees thinned, and Jim could hear the Team.

“-no turning back from that!” Wally’s voice came through, as Jim edged a bit closer to get a look at the situation. “We need to vent the pressure, fast.” The Team stood clustered at the base of the mountain around a damaged Red Tornado whose legs had been melted off. There was no sign of any enemies, but the lava and smoke were pouring out of the volcano. “But the ash cloud will bring on a worldwide nuclear winter unless you divert it

Red Tornado struggled for a second before managing to pull up and fly towards the top of the mountain. Wally turned to Robin, “Triangulate around the pressure locus,” he instructed, watching the image.

“Right,” Robin said, jerking into motion and pulling something up on his holocomp. Jim couldn’t see what was going on from where he was, but it seemed to be what Wally wanted.

“There, there, and there!” Wally said, pointing at something on the computer before turning to Artemis, who nodded and pulled out some arrows to ready a shot.

Jim turned and began his trip back to the Bioship. The Team had the situation under control, and even if they didn’t, Jim wouldn’t be able to help them any. As he wandered, Jim began to think again. He was more than a little grateful Gunmar and the changelings had never decided to try something like that, or at least never got the chance. Jim could handle a lot of things, but a volcano creating a nuclear winter? That was well outside his wheelhouse.

Jim jogged over the uneven ground in the dark, metal armor clanking softly with each step. The hair on the back of Jim’s neck stood on end and he slowed to a stop, glancing around as he dismissed his helmet to get a better look at his surroundings. Dark rock with glowing green flecks created bridges, arches, pillars, caves, and caverns for as far as Jim could see and as far as he remembered walking. The eclipse hung in the gap far above like it always had. There was no one there, but there always could be. Jim needed to find food and shelter, he needed to rest his aching feet.

Jim paused again as he walked. This didn’t make sense. Jim remembered leaving the Darklands. Jim closed his eyes and focused. He couldn’t trust them right now. Where had he been? A soft wind blew through rustling… leaves? Definitely leaves. He was in a forest. Jim took a deep breath through his nose, smelling the fresh air, the dirt, and… ash? Right, volcano. He was with the Team. He was walking back to the Bioship. Gunmar was dead and Enrique was safe.

Jim opened his eyes and dismissed his armor as he continued his journey back to the ship. He picked up his pace realizing he didn’t know how long his episode had lasted. He could not afford to be found outside of the Bioship.

Jim made it there first. He sat in his chair, trying to look like he hadn’t ever left. Jim closed his eyes, breathing in and holding it. He reminded himself once more that Gunmar was dead. He released the breath. Jim opened his eyes and breathed in. He was in the Bioship waiting for the Team, so he could go home, most likely after getting told off by Black Canary and Zatara. Out. He had an English paper due on Tuesday and still needed to edit it and print it off. In. Claire’s birthday was in a few weeks. He should start making plans. Out.

Jim was fairly certain he was going to be alright long enough to get home but continued the breathing anyway. Even if he lasted long enough to escape the Team or Canary noticing, it was going to be rough. Jim probably wasn’t going to sleep tonight. Normally when it was the Darklands causing him trouble specifically, he could hunt down Nomura and spend the night talking. It was something that helped both of them cope with that set of memories. But she had left for a week-long business trip to Cincinnati just the other day, so he couldn’t even do that. He just had to push through.

Jim released his last breath and plastered a smile on his face as he heard the Team approaching. He was sure he wasn’t fooling anyone. “Hey, guys.” Jim stood up, shifting nervously. “What was that explosion?”

“Super volcano,” Artemis answered distractedly. “Don’t worry. We handled it.”

Jim was silent for a moment as he watched Superboy carry Red Tornado aboard and set him on a bench M’gann had the Bioship form for him. “Not gonna ask,” he finally said. “So, back to the Cave?”

Kaldur nodded. “Back to the Cave,” he agreed as the Team, Jim, and Zatanna took their seats.

While Jim attempted to keep his thoughts and emotions under control, Kaldur began composing the report he would have to give to Batman. Most of it was fairly standard if he ignored the parts where he was going to emphasize them deliberately not bring Jim into hostile territory, but he was going to have to talk to Batman about the strange figure he saw.

He didn’t see much, and they weren’t around for long, but it was concerning. All Kaldur had managed to see was someone humanoid in shape wearing some kind of glowing armor that had odd horns on the helmet leaving the area through the tree line. They had been too far away for him to make out any other details accurately and had their back to the group as they left. The real problem was that Kaldur couldn’t recognize them and none of his teammates had ever heard of someone like that, and they were so far out in the wilderness that it was rare to even find campers up there, especially at this time of year. Not that someone dressed like that could have been camping. No. This person was involved somehow and likely knew something. Except even Red Tornado didn’t know anything and hadn’t seen them in Morrow’s base.

This person was a real mystery, but Kaldur was sure Batman could dig up something.

 

* * *

 

The Cave was quite when Jim arrived. And empty. Or, at least, it felt that way. Jim began to wander the halls, looking for someone. When he stepped into the sitting room and kitchen, Superboy was where he always was, sitting on the couch watching static, and M’gann was in the kitchen cooking, but her movements were slow and distracted. Another figure, a tall man with a blue cape and green skin, was also there and turned when Jim entered. Neither teen shifted from their tasks.

“Mr. Lake,” Martian Manhunter greeted, “Please, come with me.”

The older Martian turned again and began to leave the room.

Jim gave M’gann a concerned glance. “Wha-”

_“With me.”_

Jim winced as his questions were cut off by Martian Manhunter’s stern voice in his head. Without any further questions, Jim followed Manhunter to one of the side rooms.  Once there, he tried again. “What happened?”

“A training exercise went wrong. The Team has been given some time off to process.”

Jim blinked. “They’re practically catatonic!” Well, M’gann was. Superboy was harder to tell. “That’s a bit more than just ‘gone wrong’!”

“It is not your concern, Mr. Lake,” Manhunter said. “The League will take care of them. Do you have anything to report?”

Jim scowled at the hero, wanting to keep pressing the subject, but eventually he sighed and dropped it. “No. Everything’s normal.” Nomura wasn’t back yet. The trip had probably just been extended or there was trouble with delays or a layover or something. But she hadn’t called anyone either.

Manhunter nodded. “Then perhaps you should go home. There will not be much here for you today.”

“Fine, fine,” Jim grumbled with a wave of his hand. “I’ll go home.”

“I can see why my niece says your mind is so strange,” Manhunter mused before Jim could actually leave the room.

“What?” Jim asked as he turned back to look at the Martian.

“I maintain a certain level of psychic awareness of my surroundings. M’gann does as well. Normally it is very easy to make out a mind’s presence and what emotions dominate it at a given moment. But your mind is different. I can barely feel it and cannot feel anything from it. Any weaker and I would not be able to feel it at all and would have mistaken you for an android.”

Jim just blinked for a moment. “Good to know.” With that, he left. Jim was tempted to try and interact with M’gann and Superboy but figured Manhunter would find a way to send him home against his will if he tried, so instead he chose to leave and would see if the situation resolved itself next week.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that, we're all up to date! That means no more chapter a day for you guys, instead we're going to have a chapter every other week starting this Wednesday. Next update is, as just stated, this Wednesday.

Next week wasn’t much better. The Team was still in a funk and none of them wanted to talk about it, so Jim didn’t ask. There was one exception to the rule. Superboy seemed to be mostly fine. He’d go quiet from time to time, thinking about whatever happened, but for the most part, he seemed to have handled it and moved on. Jim had checked in and didn’t need to be there anymore. He could be going over what they know about Nomura’s disappearance with Strickler and the others. Now that it had been so long without any contact, Strickler was getting in contact with various connections of debatable trustworthiness to try and find anything at all about what happened to her. Strickler had also admitted that Nomura had been using the trip as a means of getting in touch with an old changeling acquaintance on neutral ground. Blinky was more than a little frustrated that the pair of elder changelings hadn’t told them this and that Nomura had gone alone.

Even with all that work to be done in Trollmarket and nothing to do at the Cave, Jim found himself lingering and trying to pull the other teens out of their funk. It was when Jim had finished the most recent batch of cookies, which he had used to demonstrate a technique to M’gann who likely hadn’t even noticed, he finally got tired.

“That’s it,” he said, setting down the hot tray. “You guys need to get up and do something. Anything. Just don’t mope around here all day.”

Artemis’s head jerked over to give Jim a halfhearted glare. “We’re not moping, we’re-”

“Processing,” Jim said, cutting her off. “Yeah, you’ve been processing for at least a week now. And yeah, everyone handles things at a different pace and it takes time, but you can’t let yourself stagnate. You have to keep moving or everything will fall apart. You especially don’t get that luxury. You’re heroes. You have to keep moving forward.”

“Who are you to talk?” Wally grumbled. “You don’t know anything.”

Jim raised an eyebrow, biting back the urge to tell them he just how much he knew. His little mess with Unkar coming to mind. “You’re right. I don’t. Because no one’s talking to me. Now, I’m all for you guys thinking this through and taking time to actually, you know, think, but life is going to keep moving, and if you don’t find something you can do and enjoy while you handle this, things are only going to get worse.”

“Jim’s right,” Superboy interrupted. “I can’t say how much the whole enjoyment thing matters but moving forward does. I wasn’t able to get out of my own head until I had a task. Something to accomplish. If you keep going like this, you might not ever really recover.”

Robin rolled his eyes. Jim thought he did, anyway. “Sure, but you had one land in your lap when Sphere turned into the Supercycle and you found the Forever People and all that. What do you suggest we do? Go find our own bank robbery to stop?”

“Wait,” Jim interrupted, “Sphere turned into what?”

“The Supercycle,” Superboy answered. “It’s hard to explain. The point is Sphere is a sentient piece of technology that was stolen from the Forever People and they wanted her back. While dealing with that some other things happened, and they eventually decided that since she liked me so much and I cared for her, she could stay on Earth with me.”

Jim blinked, “Fair enough, I guess.” He shook his head and turned back to Robin. “It doesn’t have to be a bank robbery. Just find something that’ll actually engage you and actually do it. You can’t let yourself coast on autopilot forever.”

“There’s an arcade in town,” M’gann suggested.

“That’s a great idea,” Jim said as he washed off his hands, “and I can look for a birthday present for Claire while we’re out.”

“Claire’s birthday is coming up?” Kaldur said. “Do you have any plans yet?”

Jim nodded, “Yeah. Tentative plans but plans nonetheless. I just haven’t managed to disappear long enough to do some actual shopping.”

“How is she?” Artemis asked softly.

Jim’s movements stalled slightly. “She’s alright. I honestly think her parents are more traumatized than she is in some ways. They almost never let her out of their sight.” Which was annoying if endearing. Luckily Claire knew how to get out of the house without being noticed. “Beyond that,” Jim shrugged, “things have mostly gone back to normal.”

The Team wasn’t sure where to take the conversation from there. Silence pressed down on the room and the teens began slipping back into their own thoughts.

“C’mon,” Jim said, “are we going into town or not?”

Jim was pleased with himself by the end of the day. The Team had spent the time showing Jim around and actually having fun. They spent a couple hours at the arcade trying out the various games. Superboy hadn’t really played much, but seemed to enjoy himself anyway, which is what really mattered. When they had eventually wound up at the park Robin tackled Jim. It had taken Jim a few precious moments to realize the younger teen was play fighting with him. In the end Robin won this time and they both were laughing and covered in grass stains. Jim did also manage to complete his goal of finding a gift for Claire, buying a book of Shakespearean sonnets from a small local bookstore.

Over all, everything worked out the way Jim had wanted. He had a present for Claire, the Team was in high spirits for the time being, and he had finally gotten to see Happy Harbor. As the sun began to set the group of teens made their way back to the Cave and said their goodbyes as Jim stepped through the Zeta Tubes and went home.

 

* * *

 

Jim was exhausted when he stepped through the Zeta Tubes. Everything just seemed to be piling up. They had made no progress towards finding Nomura. The only thing they could say for certain was that she had not left Cincinnati. At least, not of her own free will. The search for any kind of clue was expanding to the surrounding areas. On top of that, Jim was struggling to sleep at night and it was getting harder to stay focused on the present rather than the past. And with Halloween… Jim did not like the idea of not being able to identify the people around him at a glance. Or at the very least having an accurate description to work with if anything happened.

“Hey, Jim!” M’gann greeted cheerfully.

Jim tensed for a moment as he startled out of his thoughts before quickly relaxing again when he remembered who he was talking to. “Hey, M’gann.”

“Recognized. Kid Flash, B-0-3,” the computer said as the Zeta Tubes whirred to life behind Jim.

“We’re going to a Halloween party our school is putting on in a few hours,” M’gann chatted excitedly. “You can come if you want.”

“Oh,” Jim said suppressing a wince at the thought of not only being surrounded by people in costume, but by strangers in costume without his friends for backup, “that’s nice of you, but I have plans already.”

“C’mon, man,” Wally said as he threw an arm around Jim’s shoulders. “It’ll be fun!”

Jim gave a weak smile, “I’m sure it would, but really, I have plans.” Eli and Steve had a party they were going to, but the Trollhunters, Strickler, and Barbara were going to be spending the night down in Trollmarket. Jim thought Blinky was planning to go over Trollish language and culture.

“With _Claire_?” Wally teased.

Jim pushed Wally away from him. “As a matter of fact, yes.”

“I thought you said her parents weren’t letting her out of their sight?” M’gann pointed out.

Jim chuckled slightly. “One,” he said, “they’re easing up a bit. It’s just taking time. Two, what kind of teens would we be if we didn’t know how to get in and out of the house without anyone noticing.”

“They are going to kill you,” Wally laughed.

Jim’s smile came more easily this time. “They can blame me all they want, but that’s all Claire.”

“Is that so?” Wally said, wiggling his eyebrows at Jim.

Jim just rolled his eyes. “The first time they met me I was babysitting Enrique. They thought Claire was watching him when she was actually at a concert.”

“Wouldn’t Claire have come home before her parents to try and keep them from noticing?”

“If not for them coming home early.” Jim grinned. “Anyway,” Jim said as he glanced around for a moment, “I should check in and head out. Need to, uh, set up and all that.”

“I think Marvel’s in the kitchen,” M’gann supplied.

“Thanks, M’gann!” Jim said, waving over his shoulder as he left the room.

Wally and M’gann stood there for a moment, allowing silence to settle between them. “So… we’re just not going to talk about the bags under his eyes then,” Wally finally said.

“Bags under his eyes?” M’gann frowned at him, unfamiliar with that particular human phrase.

“Yeah,” Wally said turning to face her, “the dark circles or spots under his eyes. It means he hasn’t been getting enough sleep lately.”

“Oh. Should we be worried?”

Wally shrugged. “Could be nothing. Could be something. Could be normal human teenager stuff like staying up late playing video games, or it could be nightmares, or it could be him working on something we should really be concerned about. If Batman’s right, the last two are more likely. If Batman’s wrong, it’s none of our business.”

M’gann nodded her head absently in understanding.

“And as Robin said,” Wally continued, “Batman’s rarely wrong.”

 

* * *

 

Jim tossed his bag to the side as he entered the library, suppressing another yawn.

“Ah, Young Atlas,” Strickler greeted, ignoring Barbara’s watchful gaze. At the very least it was only watchful now, rather than the heated glare he had gotten the month or so following her reintroduction to Trollmarket. “I’m glad you made it safe and sound.”

Jim nodded, taking a seat at the stone table and pulling on of the books in the middle closer to him as he began flipping through. Then he paused for a moment and glanced around the room, blinking. “Where is everyone?”

Strickler and Barbara shared a concerned look. “Blinky and Aaarrrgghh are dealing with some troll politics,” Barbara answered, “Claire has to wait for her parents to settle down for the night, and Toby should be on his way down as soon as he gets everything set up for the Trick-or-Treaters.”

Jim nodded and turned back to his book. Strickler hesitated for a moment, then spoke. “It’s been a while since you’ve said anything about the teen heroes,” he prompted cautiously.

Jim thought for a second. “Huh. I guess it has.” He closed his book and thought back. “Let’s see. The last thing was when Robin jumped me in the woods, so… The Team seems to think the Injustice League was their big bad in the shadows. This time it seems to be a Justice League sponsored theory. The Team is more than willing to run headlong into a fight they don’t need to and will probably lose. Turns out Sphere is sentient and can turn into some kind of ‘Supercycle’- not a clue what that even means- and was made by some group called the Forever People. I think they’re off world right now.

“Magic is scary and Zatara and Zatanna could both probably make me tell them everything with the right spell. Zatara is looking into an incident in Dallas that makes me think Claire had an accomplice and they destroyed the Heartstone chunks. He also did some kind of search at the school and sensed what I think was the Heartstone but nothing else and he doesn’t know what it was.

“Canary was worried about how I was handling the attack from the Reds and Claire being possessed, but I think I deflected that well enough.”

Jim thought for another moment. “Yeah, I think that’s everything. Wait, no. Some training exercise went wrong and traumatized the Team. Took a few weeks to pull them out of that funk, and I still don’t know what actually happened because they won’t talk to me about it.”

Jim dropped his head to the table and just rested there for a moment. Strickler and Barbara watched him, neither entirely sure what they should be doing right now. “I think the Amulet is putting some kind of mental barrier or defense up around my mind because telepathic stuff doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to on me.”

Barbara sat next to Jim and began rubbing soothing circles on his back. Silence once again filled the small library. Jim huffed once and lifted his head just enough to lean into his mom’s side. Barbara pulled him in closer as she realized he was crying. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was that did it, but Jim had reached a breaking point.

“Whenever you need to talk, Jim, I’m right here.”

“As much as I find it unlikely that you will take up my offer, the same can be said for me. I also picked something up from RotGuts earlier today that might help. It is a concoction that trolls use to help them sleep when they suffer from nightmares.” Strickler placed a small green vial on the table in front of Jim as he took a seat across from the family.

Jim opened his eyes and stared at the vial. He then glanced up at Strickler. “How…?” he began. His voice shook with exhaustion and was quieter than the pair had heard it.

“Word has gotten around the faculty that you’ve taken to sleeping in class, and that you often jerk awake rather fearful without any provocation. And I’m certain even the most unobservant can see that you are sleep deprived, Young Atlas. You need to lighten your burden,” Strickler’s voice took on a softer tone, “and talk to someone.”

It was at that moment that Toby walked in. He took in the scene without a single word and simply dropped himself on Jim’s other side and grabbed a book. Toby was carefully positioned so as to be able to brush up against Jim periodically and remind him that he was there, literally and metaphorically, while also not making Jim feel trapped.

Jim sat up again and gave Toby a watery smile in greeting while he wiped the tear tracks from his face. Another glance at the vial led to Jim grabbing it and placing it in his pocket with a soft, “Maybe later. It’s still early.”

A few moments later Blinky and Aaarrrgghh entered, happily greeting the two boys with a much calmer hello to Barbara and a respectful nod to Strickler. After a brief question in regard to Claire, Blinky settled down and launched into his plans for the night.

Barbara pulled Strickler outside once the trolls and their students got into the swing of things. As soon as they were far enough away, she turned to him. “Are you really in any place to be giving my son psychoactive drugs?” she asked.

“No,” Strickler answered calmly, “which is why I am not.”

Barbara looked as though she were about to launch into a long rant. “A sleep-”

“While many human sleep drugs do inhibit important portions of the sleep cycle,” Strickler interrupted, “this is a magic based troll solution that even changelings have found to be more than simply helpful. I also have no intention of allowing Jim unrestricted access to it. He needs to get his balance back and handle this, but he cannot do that in his current sleep deprived state.”

Barbara nodded after a moment. “I want to look into it myself,” she said. “Just to be safe.”

“It’s called Gertick’s Rest, but you can ask RotGuts what I got yourself if you would like.”

“Walter-”

“As much as I do not like your distrust in me, I do understand it. You are completely justified in your feelings and actions. I harmed both you and Jim in many ways, emotionally and physically. I have violated your trust repeatedly and need to earn any place I may have in your lives.”

“Then why are you being so passive aggressive about this.”

Strickler completely failed to hide a wince. He had hoped to avoid that. “Because while I understand it and deserve it, it still hurts, and I am resisting reacting to your position as I would have among my fellow changelings. Such behavior is what got me into this mess, and I am aware it will not be tolerated any further.”

Barbara snorted to herself. It had only taken several months but they were finally getting to the root of the problem. “No one changes over night, Walter. No matter how much they want to. The only reason I have allowed you to stay near Jim is because you do want to change. You’ve proven that much. Your position as a valuable ally certainly helps, but I have no doubt we could work things out without you if we needed to. Don’t make us need it. Jim won’t be able to handle that betrayal twice.” She turned and worked her way towards RotGuts to verify Strickler’s purchase of Gertick’s Rest and left the changeling considering her parting comment. After only a moment watching her leave, her returned to the lessons taking place. He would undoubtedly be able to provide some useful tidbits for Toby and Jim. Maybe even something Blinkous doesn’t know if he’s lucky.


	13. Chapter 13

Jim jumped into a side ally, pulling Claire and Toby with him, their bikes clattering to the ground as all the cars careened out of control and crashed into buildings, streetlights, telephone poles, and each other. Once everything stopped moving, the three rushed forward to check on the occupants. Glancing through windows the three teens came to a sudden discovery. Not a single car had a driver. There weren’t any adults in any of the cars. Or on the street.

Toby yanked open one of the less damaged doors to pull a young girl around five years old out and carefully move her to the side of the street. Claire and Jim did the same, helping any kids and teens they came across out of harm’s way.

After a few trips Jim stopped, unable to ignore his worry any longer, and called his mom’s cell phone. The call went straight to voicemail. He then dialed Strickler’s number and got the same result. Hoping against hope, he tried Blinky. No answer.

Jim turned to see Claire and Toby had stopped to watch him. He shook his head, “Nothing. It’s like they all just vanished.” Claire’s eyes widened. Jim gave her a nod in acknowledgement. “Go find Enrique. Meet us at the school.”

Claire nodded and hopped on her bike, pedaling as fast as she could.

Jim turned to the group they had pulled from the wreck so far while Toby continued to search the nearby cars. “Do any of you have a phone with you?” he asked them while pulling out his own. A few nodded and pulled out their various cell phones. “I need you to text everyone you know in Arcadia to grab everyone and get to the high school.” Jim began tapping at his own phone, trying to get messages out as quickly as possible.

“Why?” one of the teens asked.

Jim glanced up from his phone. She looked a little older than him, and he didn’t recognize her. “Right now, the adults are missing,” he explained. “Which means there isn’t anyone to keep things running. We need to consolidate resources and keep track of each other. Split the duties caring for the younger kids and finding supplies. The more people we can get in one place, and the faster we can get them there, the better off everyone will be.”

The group began nodding and followed his instructions. A few of the younger ones began looking for their parents and were starting to freak out themselves.

Jim finally got the message out on his own phone as Toby continued pulling people from the wrecks and others who had exited the cars on their own wandered over. Jim had texted almost everyone in his contact list.

After a quick check over to make sure everyone could walk, and any injuries were bandaged at least enough to hold for the time being, the group set out. It wasn’t long after beginning their journey that Jim received a text from Claire saying she had her little brother and was heading back with her own group that she had picked up along the way. Only a few minutes after that, Jim’s phone rang.

He’d been waiting for the call, but he jumped all the same. Fumbling for a moment, Jim pulled out his phone and answered without even checking caller ID. “Jim Lake, what’s up?”

“Jim,” Kaldur’s voice came over the line, calm as ever, “the adults of the world-”

“Gone, yeah,” Jim cut in, “we’ve got it here, too. I’m getting people to gather at the high school. The world, you said?”

“Yes, the phenomenon appears to be on a global scale. Have there been any casualties?”

“Not yet, but we’re still organizing. Is the League gone as well?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I am glad Arcadia is in capable hands.”

“Yeah, me, too. And, Kaldur?”

“Yes?”

“Hurry.” Jim hung up and turned back to Toby. “It’s global,” he whispered. The others would find out eventually, but Jim hoped to delay long enough to figure out how to keep them calm or for the Team to take care of things.

Toby’s eyes widened for a second. “That’s some serious power. Is the League taking care of it?”

Jim shrugged. “Wherever they are. The Team is handling things on this end.”

“So we’re staying out of it?”

“For the time being. Might have a run down the Trollmarket to check Blinky’s library later.”

Toby nodded, and the pair turned their attention back to the group they were escorting. They had picked up a few more kids stranded in crashed cars and would likely pick up a few more before the end. The walk was slow as a result of the injuries and frequent stops, but eventually their path merged with another group that was being led by Steve and composed mostly of small children.

Jim nodded to Steve as the groups merged, the older teens almost automatically helping to keep an eye on and carry the youngest.

“Stopped by a few daycare centers on the way. Figured there’d be a lot of kids freaking out over the vanishing employees,” Steve told them as they finally approached the school in the dark.

“Good call,” Jim said. “Claire’s probably going to come in with a lot of little ones. She went to go find Enrique.”

Steve nodded and quietly herded one of the children back to the group and into the building.

The next ten minutes were spent getting the “civilians” settled in and organizing leadership. Once that was done, Jim suggested they send out more search parties. It took some arguing, but eventually they managed to put together groups of four to search areas that hadn’t been covered by the groups on their way in. Some were being sent to daycares and elementary schools and others were merely wandering the streets or knocking on doors. With any luck, they would be able to round up the last of Arcadia’s minors fairly quickly.

“Eli!” Jim called just before he left, suddenly remembering something.

“Yeah?” Eli called back.

“Go raid the nurse’s office and start cleaning open wounds. Nick?” Jim turned to the senior. “Try and find someone that knows how to set and splint broken bones.”

The two boys nodded and set about their tasks as Jim finally left. Jim offered a single nod goodbye to each of the Trollhunters going out. As much as he hated it, they were all in separate groups. It was necessary, though. They didn’t know how whatever was going on would affect goblins or the other creatures hiding around Arcadia. They knew the Trolls were gone because they hadn’t been able to contact Blinky, but the others? Not a clue. The downside of them splitting up was that they couldn’t slip down to Trollmarket without being noticed, so that plan was going to have to wait.

The search was long, but they still didn’t cover as much ground as Jim would have hoped. As much as Jim had wanted to keep going, he was forced to admit defeat when the younger kids started falling asleep standing up and they had too many injured teenagers to be able to help anymore. Once they had returned, the injured were quickly helped over to the makeshift medical station and the kids were passed along to those that had volunteered to watch them and quickly put to sleep. Jim made a beeline to the various de facto leaders that were still up.

“Anything new?” Jim asked as he shook out his arms which had gone slightly numb from carrying one of the kids.

“Not much,” Shannon answered. “People are settling in pretty well. Especially after the Justice League’s sidekicks came on.”

“Oh?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah, they sent out a broadcast saying a bunch of stuff about how we have to look after each other and that they’re working on a solution.”

Jim nodded. Nothing new then. “Do we have shifts set up?”

Clark, a homeschooled 16-year-old, nodded. “We’re giving everyone that went out a full night’s rest tonight and we’ll send out more parties in the morning.”

“We should probably grab whatever supplies we can to make this place more comfortable as well,” Jim said. “Not to mention clothes.” He glanced around. “Who all is back?”

“Almost everyone,” Darcy answered, a knowing smile on her lips. “Claire and Toby should be back in a few minutes. Steve made it back just before you did.”

“Actually, you four stayed out somewhere between a half hour and forty-five minutes longer than the other groups,” Violet, a sophomore from Arcadia Oaks Academy, laughed.

Jim gave a small smile in turn. “Is there anything that we still need to work out?”

Nick shook his head, then paused. “Well, there are a few things we should probably work out, but they can wait until morning. We were mostly just hanging around and getting to know each other when you came over.”

Jim nodded and was about to say something when he heard the door to the gym open. Claire and Toby’s groups began filling in, sending the injured and little kids to the appropriate areas. The searches began dispersing and finding their own place to bed down for the night as well as Claire and Toby wandered over to Jim and the others.

“Hey, T.P.,” Darcy greeted with a smile.

Toby perked up almost instantly. He and Darcy had been picking up the pace now that they’d had time to actually get to know each other. “Hey, Darce,” he responded.

Jim and Claire shared a quick kiss as their hands found each other. “Everything go alright?”

“Yeah, how did things go for you?”

“As expected. Apparently, they’ve already hashed everything out here and we can just get some sleep tonight.”

“Guess we should someplace to sleep then, huh.”

“Behave yourselves, you two,” Darcy teased.

Both of the teens went bright red at the implication. They released their hands and began pointedly looking anywhere else while shifting awkwardly on their feet.

The group laughed and teased, and eventually they all went their separate ways. Some to find a place to sleep, some to keep watch.

Jim and the others would wake early the next morning - the middle of the night would be much more accurate - to yells and cheers as the gym filled with concerned adults looking for their kids. The paramedics followed shortly after. The injured were ferried to the hospital for treatment, while everyone else was sent home with their families and the suggestion of counseling just in case.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you guys can see it in the tags, but... just a reminder, this fic is not cannon complaint with season three of Trollhunters. That's going to get very obvious in this chapter.

Sparring was going well. Today the teens were having a free for all in an attempt to get Claire used to her new staff, get Eli and Steve more comfortable with the chaos of battle, and keep them on their toes. Draal and Aaarrrgghh were on the sidelines this round, observing the group’s techniques and rapidly changing dynamics as alliances formed and broke every few moments. Meanwhile, Blinky was checking on the vault and its contents because he couldn’t be certain how the items - especially the darker and more temperamental ones with a habit of possessing people - would be affected by being split into two identical copies, one of which was completely unsupervised, and then merged back together. Strickler was running down nonexistent leads on Nomura with NotEnrique.

A bright flash of light above the mass of limbs and weapons caught the attention of Aaarrrgghh and Draal as well as Eli and Steve. Claire, Toby, and Jim noticed the flash, but - being too competitive and used to ignoring distractions on the battlefield - did not stop to look up, taking advantage of the other boys’ distraction to remove them from the fight before continuing with each other. As such, they did not see the ankh the appeared above them, nor did they notice the man in a black suit with gold accents, cape, and helmet that came through the ankh like it was a doorway.

The figure watched, allowing the children to spar. After all, he was a guest here in the halls of Merlin’s Champion. He would have loved to claim the boy’s loyalty back when his Helmet had first made contact with him. He could feel the boy’s willingness to learn and sacrifice as well as his basic affinity for the mystic arts and his ability to accept the unexplained without batting an eye. Unfortunately, he had been claimed as one of Merlin’s, something that had proven quite the surprise. The Lord of Order had hardly expected that Amulet to last this long, much less choose a human child to bear its burden.

Aaarrrgghh, getting over his shock, bowed his head respectfully, as his build did not really allow for him to drop to one knee. He gestured for Draal to do the same. Draal hesitated and looked more than a little confused.

“Wizard,” Aaarrrgghh rumbled quietly. “Kneel.”

Draal was still confused, but obliged. He was unfamiliar with why he should be kneeling but trusted that the older troll was not leading him astray.

Eli and Steve only stared at the imposing figure in awe. They knew Doctor Fate only from stories of the Justice Society of America in the early days of the heroic age, but they still knew enough. They had no idea what the legendary figure was doing here and were completely unable to process the turn of events.

Finally, the last blows were dealt, and Toby seemed to be the victor. He had allowed Jim and Claire to get distracted fighting each other and moved in for the kill once one of them seemed to win. “Ha-ha!” he crowed as he and the others turned to see what had caused the flash of light earlier.

Jim’s face went pale when he saw Doctor Fate floating above them. He immediately scrambled to one knee and hissed at the others to do the same.

“There is no need for that, Trollhunter,” Fate spoke, “I am the guest here. Though, I must say I am pleased to see some still value the old ways.”

Jim took that as permission to stand. “Doctor Fate,” he spoke, hesitant but firm, “what brings you to Trollmarket?”

Draal started to stand, but Aaarrrgghh pulled him back to his knees.

Fate noticed. “It is fine, warrior. You may all rise.” Slowly, they climbed silently back to their feet. “As for your question, Trollhunter, I am here for your friend. Zatara’s memories indicate Ms. Nuñez has been possessed. He could not identify the source or fix the problem, but I know much more than he does. I recognized the magical signature and am willing to help.”

The room was silent after Fate’s proclamation. They had been searching for a solution for… they weren’t sure how long in total, but it was a long time. And now… now it was just being dropped in their lap.

“You…” Claire said, finally getting her voice back, “You’d do that?”

Aaarrrgghh moved quickly to place his hulking mass directly behind Claire and in the middle of the group of small, squishy humans he looked after. “Price,” he growled.

“Must there be a price for a good deed?”

That did not seem to be the right answer. Draal immediately grabbed an ax from the weapons rack and placed himself among the younger warriors. Aaarrrgghh loosed a guttural growl at the floating magician and tried again. “Price!” he yelled.

“Easy there, Wingman,” Toby said. “He’s a hero. One of the good guys.”

“Always a price,” Aaarrrgghh said, not taking his eyes off Fate.

“I benefit from this arrangement as well,” said Fate. “One corrupted by the Skathe Hrün is too dangerous to leave unchecked. I have the power to remove the blemish and I will. It will be easier if you cooperate.”

Aaarrrgghh growled softly, then stepped back. “Only fix Staff. Nothing else.”

“I do not-”

Aaarrrgghh switched into Trollish for the sake of clarity. “ _Only fix the Staff’s influence. Do anything else and I will hurt you._ ”

Jim, Claire, and Toby all winced at the threat, but let it go. If Aaarrrgghh felt the need to say it, they weren’t going to argue with him about it. Fate offered a small nod and drifted softly to the ground. Aaarrrgghh remained close and kept an eagle eye on Fate as he approached.

Fate gave no warning as he began chanting. Golden light formed complex shapes and patterns through the air. Slowly, a pulsing energy filled the room, drumming through their heads and pressing against their skin. Claire’s eyes drifted shut and she began to sway.

Jim took a step forward, only to find himself held back by a barrier he couldn’t see. His first reaction was fear and anger. He needed to help Claire, to be there for her. She was going to fall. Then his mind calmed, slipping from the concerned boyfriend into the Trollhunter. He knew that if Fate was keeping him out, he needed to stay out. Even if he didn’t trust what was going on, he couldn’t do anything about it.

Claire began floating, arms splayed out, as the light danced around her. Her eyes snapped open. They had gone completely black with a softly glowing yellow light emanating from within. Dark lines began spreading over her face and hands, and her mouth opened in a silent scream. A dark smoke poured from her mouth and ears and eyes, purple sparks dancing within and across it. Her body coughed and spasmed, twisting and jerking in pain as the substance was forced from her body. An ankh formed directly in front of her as Fate’s chanting grew louder and more forceful, the incantation reaching its climax. The smoke was drawn into the ankh and vanished.

Fate went silent and Claire, her eyes closed, face clear, and body limp, slowly fell back to the ground. Jim rushed forward and cradled her unconscious body.

“I know I cannot stop you from continuing to use the Skathe Hrün, but I will insist that she wait two weeks for the defenses to take root and strengthen themselves. None of us want to see this happen again.”

Before Fate could go anywhere, Aaarrrgghh’s large fist took hold of his shoulder. “Not tell,” Aaarrrgghh said firmly.

If not for the helmet, Jim suspected Fate would have looked rather offended at the prospect. “I will not.” There were no other words exchanged as Doctor Fate stepped through another ankh and vanished.

Claire groaned from Jim’s arms and sat up slowly, bringing her hand to her head. Jim released a large sigh of relief and an anxious laugh. Toby whooped in delight and Steve and Eli, finally coming back to their senses now that Fate had left, joined in. Jim dismissed his armor and held Claire close, his head bowed against hers, tears of joy flowing down his face as she grumbled at the other boys to be quiet. They were going to be alright.

 

* * *

 

Jim stepped into the Cave’s living room to find the Team milling about quietly. Luckily, things were different this time. When the training exercise went wrong they had been silent and still and barely noticed when people came and went. This time they were quiet only because their voices were kept low and there wasn’t much to be said. Rather than trauma and fear, the air held sorrow.

“Hey, Jim,” said M’gann. Her voice lacked its usual upbeat cheer and energy that had almost never seemed to fade.

“Hey,” Jim answered, trying desperately to figure out what had happened. Everyone was here and looked healthy. Their mentors had been seen since the attack at press conferences and fights. So, what- “Zatara’s memories.” That was what Doctor Fate had said. He had taken Zatara as his host. “Something went wrong?” Jim asked, trying to sound like he knew absolutely nothing.

The Team traded looks, and Robin stepped forward. “We had to call on Doctor Fate in order to end the spell and bring the adult and kid worlds back together. Zatanna put on the Helmet in our world. When the worlds merged, Fate refused to release Zatanna. Zatara managed to make a bargain to free her, but only by promising to take her place. Zatanna just moved in earlier today.”

Jim made his eyes widen and tried to act concerned. “I’m sorry,” he said. While he didn’t like Zatanna losing her father, Zatara had made that choice. And that had freed Claire. A tight ball was forming in his gut. Another broken family and he felt happy because it fixed mistakes he had made. He was happy because someone else’s family got torn apart to fix his. A sour taste filled the back of his mouth and the joy he had felt just the other day rotted. He should have known better. Everything had a price.

An awkward silence stretched over the room. Jim shuffled his feet. “I’m gonna go find… someone.”

Kaldur gave a small nod. “Some League members are having a meeting in Canary’s office,” he said as Jim walked away.

Jim glanced over his shoulder and said, “Thanks.”

Jim walked quickly once he was out of sight of the Team. His steps grew faster and longer, but he carefully restrained himself from actually running. It only took a moment for Jim to reach the room Canary had claimed for her therapy sessions and left Jim wishing he’d walked slower. He knocked on the door, breath held.

Moments crawled past and Jim took a seat in the chairs that had been left out in the hall. Jim suspected that they had been placed there after the training accident. There was no way Canary wouldn’t have talked to the Team about whatever it was that happened. Jim’s leg bounced, and he fought to keep himself from jumping out of his seat and pacing.

The door opened, and Batman stepped out. “Report.”

Jim froze, then lurched back into motion. “Nothing special about Arcadia. We got hit with that spell, of course. Some people were injured in car crashes, and some of the kids might be traumatized by the whole thing, but nothing else happened.”

Batman nodded, turned around, and went back into the room, door sliding shut behind him. Jim sat there, unmoving for another few long moments. Then he abruptly rose and began walking.

He moved much slower and more smoothly now that he didn’t have a destination. He wasn’t really thinking either, and instead allowed himself to simply wander. He counted himself lucky that he wasn’t thinking. If he were he would likely have been beating himself up over Doctor Fate’s choice in hosts. Why had he wanted Zatanna so badly? Why hadn’t he been willing to release them?

Because the Team had promised him a body and hadn’t followed through. Because Fate thought he was needed and didn’t want to wait any longer. Jim remembered the stories. Fate had almost kept Wally, almost kept Kaldur, and only released them on the urging of Kent Nelson. Which meant Nelson was gone now, too. It probably didn’t help that Zatanna and Zatara were such powerful magicians.

Jim looked up as he came to a stop. The Souvenir Room. The shelves were still mostly empty and looked almost identical to the last time Jim was here. Only two things had changed. There was now a robot hand that Wally had brought back from T. O. Morrow’s base under Yellowstone. The other… Jim had expected the Helmet to be gone, but he was surprised to find a small yellow and blue sippy cup resting in its place. It was an easy assumption that Wally had gotten it from one of the kids he’d helped during the event. That it was filling the Helmet’s old spot was probably somewhat passive aggressive and worked to link the events together. Jim figured he would have left the spot empty. After all, what wasn’t there was just as important as what was.


	15. Chapter 15

Jim stretched his aching back as he stepped through the Zeta Tube. The last few days had been hell for Arcadia. Going from no snow, and certainly not any snow that’s going to stick, to heavy snowfall over the course of a day without any warning was not something Jim would recommend to anyone. Add to that the general lack of snow gear in many families and as soon as the power seemed like it was going to go out, everyone was freaking out.

The next day had warmed right back up again, but the snow on the ground kept them cold, even as they tried to shovel it out. Even now people were still working on some of the back streets and snow drifts lined the roads. The city had been forced to tell people not to drive because of poor visibility and slick spots.

“Hey, Jim!” Wally yelled as he skidded to a stop. “How’s the snow been treating you?”

Jim glared. “If it could just melt already, that would be great.”

Wally laughed. “Oh, come on. It’s not that bad!”

Jim stepped past the speedster. “No one can drive anywhere, Wally. Arcadia doesn’t do snow.”

Wally only shrugged at that and followed Jim.

“So, you guys finally fought with the League, huh?” Jim said, tossing a smile over his shoulder. “How’s it feel?”

“You’ll have to ask the others, I was delivering a heart to Seattle.”

Jim shrugged. “I’ll have to remember that. For now, I’m going to go collapse on your couch and avoid shoveling more snow.”

Wally stopped. “Shoveling?”

“Arcadia does not do snow. We don’t have snow plows, Wally, certainly not enough to handle all of that.” Jim flopped onto the couch.

Wally blinked at Jim. “I guess I’ll just leave you here, then.” A small wind rustled Jim’s hair as Wally left the room.

Jim relaxed into the couch and allowed his body to go limp. While the Cave sure as hell wasn’t actually safe, it was probably safer than most places, so Jim felt at least somewhat justified in allowing his guard to physically drop. He was tired and didn’t feel like he was going to be thrown into another life-threatening crisis at any moment or have his family threatened with any number of things.

At least Claire was alright now. Although, they still had to find a new Heartstone within ten years and had no idea where Nomura went. It was concerning. Strickler had managed to figure out that Nomura had been accounted for during the entire trip right up to the end and then just vanished between when everyone went to sleep on the last night and when they boarded the plane the next morning. No one had any idea what happened, but she probably wasn’t going to be able to convince the museum to give her her job back a second time.

Jim listened to various footsteps wander through and around the room, playing a small game with himself as he tried to match the footsteps to the person. M’gann left Jim mildly startled when she started working in the kitchen without any warning. It’s kind of hard to identify the footsteps of a person that doesn’t touch the ground too often.

Jim’s heart was just beginning to calm again when something cold and heavy and wet dropped onto his back. Jim was up in an instant, shrieking and launching himself over the couch after Robin and Wally. The two boys laughed and danced just out of Jim’s reach. Jim continued chasing the two around the room, deftly leaping over furniture and trying to grab them. Wally, ever the gentleman, stayed at normal human speeds while Robin showed off his acrobatics and flipped over and around Jim. Jim, in response to not being able to actually grab them, picked up some of the snow that had fallen on the ground and couch from the boys’ prank, packed it into a ball, and threw it.

Wally hadn’t been paying attention and got hit. M’gann’s laughter died and Wally went still.

“Hey, B,” Robin said cheerfully, still laughing.

Jim turned slowly. In the doorway, with all of his usual intimidation, stood Batman. His gaze turned to Wally once he had finished taking in the scene. “Snow stays outside.”

“Sure thing,” Wally squeaked.

Batman turned his attention back to Jim. “Arcadia?”

“Surviving is probably the best word at the moment.” Batman didn’t respond, so Jim kept talking. “I mean, enough snow to knock out the power lines in a place that hasn’t seen any snow since the 1960s. It’s not pretty.”

Batman nodded. “Anything else over the past week?”

Jim made a show of thinking for a moment. “Nope.”

“What about Aya Nomura?”

Jim forced himself to look confused. And he actually kinda was. Was that really her first name? It probably wasn’t the one her familiar was born with, but still. It was her name right now. “As in the museum lady?” Jim winced. That came out so very wrong. He had been aiming to distance himself from her, but that was a little much.

“Ms. Nomura did work at the museum, yes.”

“What about her?”

“She’s been missing for almost a month and disappeared for several months with no explanation prior to that.”

“That’s, um… That’s unfortunate?” Jim tried. What the heck did Batman want him to say? “I hope she’s alright.”

“So, you don’t know anything?”

Jim shook his head. “The only reason I recognized her name at all was because of the field trip to the museum Mr. Strickler took us on last year.”

Batman was silent, then nodded. Jim hoped to God that Batman wasn’t going to say something about Mr. Strickler disappearing for several months and turning back up without explanation on multiple occasions.

He didn’t. Instead he turned and began walking off. As he was about to pass Wally, he stopped. “Clean up the snow,” he said, and then continued on his way.

Wally leapt to attention and then began zipping around the room, frantically cleaning up the snow and water. Jim chuckled slightly at the display, and then checked his watch. It had been a few hours. He should probably head back to Arcadia. There was still plenty of work to do. With some quick goodbyes, Jim was on his way.

 

* * *

 

Jim had a lazy smile on his face, as he stepped into the Cave. Last night he had gotten the best sleep he’d had in a long time, not including the sleep potion Strickler had given him on Halloween. His smile grew wider when he saw Batman already standing in the hall. This time he wouldn’t have to track anyone down. Unfortunately, Batman was talking to someone already. Jim settled himself against the wall and waited.

The man on the satellite link didn’t look well. His skin was pale and gaunt against his bones, with hollowed out cheeks and sunken eyes. He probably hadn’t eaten or slept properly in at least a month. Jim pressed down on the memory of what he had looked like after just two weeks of no sun, strenuous activity, and little food and water. He pressed down even harder on the memories of how he got that way. Not just the Darklands, but everything in the long chain of events that led to that decision.

“Please,” the man begged, “you have to believe me! The creatures they have locked up there are… are… I don’t know how to describe them, Batman. They’re made of stone. Or, some of them are, anyway. The smaller ones aren’t. You have to go check it out before they find out I’m talking to you and move!”

Jim’s eyes widened. Creatures of stone? If they were being held somewhere and this person knew…

“We will send a team when we are ready,” Batman responded. “For now, Mr. Wiltkin, I have some questions.”

The man took a breath to try and steady himself. It worked. Kind of. “I- I’ll answer as best I can.”

Batman nodded once, then launched into his questioning. “Why did they choose Withamsville?”

Jim knew that name. It was a place not too far from Cincinnati. He’d seen it on Strickler’s maps. He thought they’d cleared the place.

“I don’t know.” Wiltkin seemed terrified of the thought of not being able to answer the question. “I’m just a guard. They don’t tell me much.”

“What do they do with these creatures, and how do they find them?” Batman continued, accepting Wiltkin’s answer.

“They bring these things in from somewhere else,” Wiltkin said, his voice levelling off now that he actually had information to share. “And- and they run experiments on them. Trying to figure out what they can and can’t do. Sometimes they test certain chemicals on them or take… I don’t know… stone samples? They try and figure these things out. God, the big ones can withstand a lot, but the little ones they’re so fragile. You could break one by sitting on it!”

Jim was as still as the dead Trollhunter’s in the Forge. Those were definitely trolls and goblins. If they were running experiments… This was bad. Untold numbers had been captured and likely killed by… who the hell even were they!?

“Are they intelligent?”

“Yeah. Yeah, they think so. They always keep them all separate to try and keep them from organizing. The little ones more than the others. Put enough of the little ones in one room and they’ll start attacking anyone that moves. We’ve had to put down a lot like that. The bigger ones, the stone ones, they’re more subtle. They’ll organize, sure, but they usually try for an actual plan, so they try and keep as much information from them as possible. No one is allowed to speak where they might hear you.”

Batman nodded, taking notes. “How long did you work for them?”

“Ten years.”

Jim’s heart stopped. _Ten years!_ That place had been functioning for _ten years!?_ At _least._ How was this possible? Why hadn’t they noticed!?

“What caused your sudden change of heart?”

“I- I’d never liked the place. It always felt wrong, but I needed the paycheck. Then… then they brought in the other one. It spoke English, Batman. It actually spoke. The others… they’d almost always gone silent by the time they got to this place, or, if they did speak, it was always in their own language. _Never_ English.

“And that’s not even the real kicker. No. It kept talking about how someone would come for them. It-”

“Did it say a name?”

“No. It only ever said ‘he will come for me.’ When it saw the others, it started yelling something in their native language and everything went to hell. None of them except for that one has tried anything since. Whatever it was saying, the entire behavioral pattern has changed. We can always tell when one of them found out about whatever was said. They would yell and pound on the walls and floors, and then everything would go silent.

“Hell, even that’s not the scariest part. This one doesn’t let anyone, or anything push it around. Whenever they tried to bring it in for tests, we wound up losing men and having to knock it out again. Every single time it went by the other cells it would start yelling and screaming. They finally gave up and moved it into solitary, but it destroyed the camera, so we can’t keep an eye on it.”

Jim’s brain finally restarted. _Nomura_. It had to be.

“It’s dangerous?”

“Extremely.”

 _No shit,_ Jim thought to himself. She was a warrior. They all were. That they had managed to keep that place running with limited problems was a miracle. And now they were organizing. If there were changelings in there, their tests likely wouldn’t mean much in the end.

Batman made more notes.

“What is the address again?”

“1216 Roosevelt Avenue.”

Jim immediately began a mantra in his head. _1216 Roosevelt Avenue. 1216 Roosevelt Avenue. 1216-_ He could not afford to forget it.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Wilkin,” Batman said as he finished off his notes and closed down the satellite feed. “Mr. Lake,” Jim almost jumped out of his skin, “you’re late.”

Jim forced himself to take a few deep breaths as he stepped forward. He had to act natural. Normal. Like that conversation had meant nothing to him. _She was waiting for him. She had trusted him to save her. Like before. Like last time._ But this wasn’t before. Jim gave a nervous laugh. “I’m just a few hours later than normal.”

“Anything to report?”

“No.” Jim’s heart was still pounding. He had to move fast before Batman sent the Team or hacked that place. He couldn’t leave them there any longer. He had to do something.

Batman nodded. “I’m surprised the Team isn’t here yet. They wanted to invite you to watch a movie with them tonight.”

“Oh,” that could be good. Keep everyone busy tonight. “That sounds like fun. I’ll go find them and… call my mom so she’s knows I’ll be home late.” Jim turned and left, dialing his mom’s number.

One ring. _1216 Roosevelt Avenue._ Two rings. _1216 Roosevelt Avenue._ Three- “Hey, Jim, what’s up?”

“Hey, Mom, the Team is planning a movie night, so I might be out later than I’d planned. Is Strickler there?” As much as they tried to hide it, Jim knew they used his weekly visits to talk… personal politics. They tended to keep their arguing and paranoia where he couldn’t see it now days.

“Yes, actually. Is something wrong?”

“No,” Jim tried desperately to keep his voice level, but knew he was probably failing. “I just need to talk to him for a moment.”

“Okay, sweetie.” Barbara pulled the phone away from her face, and Jim could just barely make out her telling Strickler it was for him.

“Yes, You-”

Jim was fairly certain no one would hear him in the hallway he’d chosen for the call, but he could never be too sure. He switched into Trollish. “ _Found her. Withamsville, 1-2-1-6 Roosevelt._ ” Jim really wished he was better at speaking Trollish. “ _Many there. Go 1-2-1-6 Roosevelt._ ”

“ _Jim, what are you talking about._ ”

“ _Missing, found. She and others._ ”

“ _Nomura?_ ”

“ _Yes, and more. Go fast. Have story now, not later._ ”

“ _Understood. You really need to work on your Trollish._ ”

Jim almost growled in frustration. This was not the time. A thought suddenly crossed his mind. “ _No dead. No kill. They know. Do not leave knowing. Take for us, leave none for them._ ”

“ _I understand the no killing bit, but what do you mean by- oh. You want to know how much they know, leave nothing in their systems for them._ ”

Jim honestly wasn’t one hundred percent sure exactly what Strickler had said, but he got the gist of it. “ _Yes,_ ” he confirmed. _“Mean it, Strickler, no kill._ ”

" _Yes, Young Atlas, no one shall be killed. I shall have Ms. Nuñez text you something mundane when we’re done. We’ll be radio silent until then. Enjoy your evening, Jim._ ”

Jim released a sigh of relief as Strickler hung up the phone. They were working on it. Hopefully Strickler managed to keep his word and no one would end up dead. It was certainly going to be quite the night for everyone. Another few deep breaths to try and calm his racing heart later a Jim was walking into the lounge with a strained smile on his face and asking the Team what movie they wanted to go see.

The Team, of course, tried asking what was wrong, but Jim brushed them off. He told them it was personal, and the movie would make for a good distraction. It didn’t, of course. A simple movie was never going to make Jim’s worries and fears go away. On the bright side, they had chosen a comedy, so Jim didn’t need to worry about any sudden triggers.

Two and a half hours later, Jim stretched as he stood from the couch and checked his phone. A message from Claire. It was reminding him that they had a history paper due tomorrow. Jim had already finished it. Claire knew that. Jim texted back that it was done and said his farewells. It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am well aware that Nomura's fannon name is Zelda, I just chose not to use it.


	16. Chapter 16

Jim wasn’t really paying attention when he stepped into the Heartstone. “Hello, Little Gynt,” a deep and raspy voice said, startling him. “Took your time, did you?”

"Nomura,” Jim breathed as he took in her bandages and how she leaned against the table, even while sitting on the bench. “I’m sorry, they covered their tracks well. I mean, that place was running for I don’t even know how long, and we found them by sheer luck.” Jim glanced around, Claire and Toby sat at the table opposite Nomura while Strickler and Barbara puttered around the room, seemingly looking for something.

“As much as I hate it, he’s right, Nomura,” Strickler interjected, turning from his search. “Not a single contact could tell us anything about what had happened. “Speaking of which,” he turned to Jim with a confused frown, “how did you find them?”

“One of their guards got a tad bit concerned by Nomura and turned whistleblower for the League. I happened to overhear them,” Jim answered, standing a bit straighter as he fell into his roll. “We’re going to need to keep our heads down.”

“Indeed, Master Jim,” Blinky said as he stepped into the room, Aaarrrgghh following behind him. “We are keeping everyone contained for the time being. I am sorry, Nomura, but you will not be able to return to the surface, much less your place in Arcadia for the time being.” Blinky turned to Barbara and Strickler, “Now, have either of you found the Läkning Stone!?”

“Found it!” Barbara called, pulling a large green crystal out of one of the boxes.

“Ah, good. Aaarrrgghh, if you could take that to the Examination Dwell, please?” Blinky asked as Aaarrrgghh reached forward and grabbed the crystal before heading back out. “Now, about these human scientists.”

“Unfortunately, there wasn’t much on site,” Strickler said as he pulled out a flash drive and passed it to Jim. “That is all I managed to find. I suggest opening on an isolated system in case there are any bugs or viruses they left for us. Outside of their… research, the files are rather vague. They-”

Claire’s phone buzzed. She gave it a quick glance and winced. “My parents are home. I need to go let them know I’m okay.” She stood and began heading out. “Give me the SparkNotes version later.”

“Will do.”

“See ya, Claire!”

“Goodbye, Claire!”

The group then turned back to Strickler expectantly.

“Right,” Strickler said, “It is difficult to say exactly how much they know, but beyond the existence of trolls and how to kill goblins, they appear to know almost nothing.”

“They still managed to capture us,” Nomura grumbled.

“Indeed, I am still trying to figure out how they managed to capture so many of our brethren, but that appears to be a recent development, and none of their notes relate how to kill a troll or a changeling or what happens when one of us does die.”

“So, they know a lot about goblins, but in truth, not much else?” Jim asked.

Strickler nodded, “The records only show them capturing goblins as early as twenty years ago and changelings fifteen. They have never captured a proper troll.”

Jim nodded slightly, then turned to Blinky. “Do you think we can wait them out?”

“Potentially, but we do not know how old this group is, Master Jim, and now that they have seen us, it will be that much harder to convince them that they were mistaken.”

“An organization such as this needs ties with the wealthy elite in order to get anything done. If we can find their donors, we could cut off their supplies, and we have destroyed their evidence,” Strickler suggested. “They will be hard pressed to gather new recruits if they have nothing to show.”

“That is an option,” Blinky nodded. “For now, we should focus on finding out how they managed to capture anyone at all and tell your fellow changelings to be careful. Jim, Tobias, Barbara, go home and get some rest. We can handle more logistics later.”

Jim nodded and followed his mom out, throwing an arm around Toby. He was starting to ignore things again. He yawned. Long day, long night. He wanted to sleep, but he felt like shit because Nomura kinda looked like shit. Those bandages didn’t cover much, and Jim could tell her living stone had lost some of its shine. Sure, most trolls didn’t have shiny living stone, but Nomura’s had always been smooth and well-polished. Now, it was covered in nicks and dulled. Jim wouldn’t be surprised if those assholes had truly left her in solitary with nothing once they gave up.

Another yawn. He would have to talk to her later, try and find a way to make up for taking so long, but that was something for another day.

 

* * *

 

Jim made a beeline for Superboy when he arrived at the Cave. He didn’t know what had happened on Thanksgiving, but he knew it couldn’t be anything good and Superboy was the person to talk to. He just hoped he was discreet enough that the rest of the Team hadn’t noticed.

“So,” Jim said once he had cornered Superboy alone.

Superboy just looked at him. “So, what?” he eventually asked.

“So, what happened on Thanksgiving?” Jim tried again, leaning up against the wall by the door.

Superboy narrowed his eyes at Jim. “Nothing.”

“You know, you’re not that great of liar,” Jim began, “especially when I already know about that little message.”

Superboy took a step back in surprise and then dropped into a fighting stance, snarling. “So, you are the mole.”

Jim immediately put his hands up, confused. “No, I’m not. Why would you-? Oh. That. Let’s just say they made some rather important assumptions about who can and can’t hear those frequencies, and they were very wrong.”

“What?” Superboy was the one confused now.

“I have friends that are rather special, Superboy. But they aren’t criminals and they don’t want any attention. I just want to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid on Thursday.”

Superboy still looked suspicious but relaxed some. “That’s none of your business,” he said as he began stepping towards the door.

Jim blocked his path. “I really think it is,” said Jim. “People make mistakes, Superboy, I won’t blame you for that, but heroes have the ability to make mistakes of much larger proportions that will affect far more people. If something happened, I want to know. Did you go to that meeting alone?”

Superboy seemed to be testing for heat vision before he finally huffed and turned away. “Yes, I went alone.”

“And?”

“It was Luthor. He’s the Chairman of the Board at Cadmus, a genetics facility with a shadowy record where… where I was cloned from Superman.” Jim’s eyebrows shot up, but he said nothing, letting Superboy talk. “He told me there was another Superclone. If that was true, I couldn’t leave him there, so, I went to find him.”

Jim nodded, “Then what?”

“When I got there, I found a secret side room filled with experiments in cryo-freeze. One of them was titled Project Match. He was their first attempt at cloning Superman and was unstable, but I didn’t know that until after I had let him out. He rampaged and was eventually caught, but in order to do so I had to use some patches Luthor gave me. Match was unstable because they used pure kryptonian DNA. They didn’t with me. It’s also why I don’t have the full range of powers. The patch temporarily suppresses my human DNA, leaving me with the powers of a full kryptonian.”

Jim nodded. “Do you still have the patches? Or was it a one and done?”

Superboy blinked at him. “I still have patches, but I don’t intend to use them unless I need them.”

Jim shook his head with a sigh. “Does the Team know? Does Batman?”

“No.”

“Tell them, there could be side effects, or you might run out when you need them most. Do you really want to have to bargain with Luthor to get more? The League could reverse engineer them.”

“No, this is private. It’s my problem, not theirs.”

Jim looked Superboy over. “Then tell your Team because they deserve to know what you can do. And if they notice, they shouldn’t have to be surprised when suddenly you can’t anymore. This kind of thing can’t stay a secret forever. It will come out.”

Superboy was suddenly towering over Jim. “You aren’t going to tell them.”

Jim shook his head. “They won’t hear a word from me. But it will come out eventually, Superboy. Don’t try and hide it.” Jim grinned and stepped aside from the door. “Now, shall we return to our regularly scheduled program before anyone notices we’ve been gone?”

Superboy nodded, then frowned. “Aren’t you going to ask about my other genetic source?”

“Should I?” Jim asked. “That’s your business.”

“Thanks,” Superboy said and took his leave while Jim lingered.

Jim, once alone, slumped against the wall and breathed. A year ago, his life had been so simple and easy. Now, he wasn’t sure it could get any more complicated. He snorted. He didn’t want to jinx it, after all. He didn’t even think the kid he was a year ago would recognize him now. Now, he had fought and killed. Now, he was regularly meeting up with the Justice League and lying to them and giving their proteges advice on how to be a team and not die. How was he even remotely qualified for this?

He took another breath and pushed himself off the wall. He might be a mess that couldn’t fix any of his own problems, but he was alive, and Gunmar and Bular weren’t a problem anymore. He was kinda doing alright. Jim wiped at his cheeks as he suddenly realized they were wet with tears. Two more deep breaths later and Jim was setting out to find Batman or Canary, or Red Tornado to actually check in.

Batman found Jim before Jim found Batman. Batman then promptly grabbed Jim’s arm and dragged him into a side room, scaring the crap out of the kid. “Report.”

“Absolutely nothing of any relevance has happened.”

“Who knows you come here?”

Jim’s face twisted into a frown. “My mom, Toby, and Claire. And Claire’s parents since you told them. Why?”

“No one else?”

“No one.”

“Would they tell anyone?”

"No. They all know how dangerous that information is. No one’s telling anyone.”

“How much do you tell them about what happens here?”

Jim was starting to get worried. Did Batman know something? He certainly suspected. “I’m always really vague, if I say anything at all. I might say we went into a nearby town or watched a movie or chatted, but not much else. I definitely don’t say anything about the missions.”

“Did you say anything about the conversation you overheard last week?”

"What? No. Why?” Oh, God, this was bad. If Batman thought he was connected-

“The facility collapsed just a few hours after that conversation. No one was inside and there was absolutely nothing left on their computers or in their labs. They knew we were coming and moved locations, destroying the evidence.”

Jim held in a sigh. Then frowned. “Wouldn’t it take more than a few hours to plan that and get everything properly cleaned up?” How had Strickler managed to do that?

“Not if they already had those protocols in place.”

"Oh.”

Silence filled the room as Batman watched Jim’s every move.

“So, um, if that’s all, I should probably be going,” Jim said as he began shuffling towards the door. “You know, homework and all that. Bye!” Jim left quickly before Batman could say anything else to keep Jim there. He walked quickly and only spared a few minutes to check in with the rest of the Team and see how their lives were going before he left the cave entirely.


	17. Chapter 17

Everyone was staring at Jim when he stepped through the Zeta Tubes. The entire Team minus Artemis and Robin were there as well as Red Tornado, Green Arrow, and Red Arrow, who Jim recognized, but hadn’t had the opportunity to meet yet. “Hi,” Jim said as he waved.

“Jim!” Wally zipped over excitedly. “Guess who’s finally joining the Team!”

“Um, Red Arrow?”

“Jim,” everything stopped as Green Arrow addressed the civilian, “it’s nice to finally meet you.” He stuck out his hand for Jim to shake.

“Uh, nice… to meet you too?” Jim said as he shook his hand.

“And this is Red Arrow,” Green Arrow gestured to the redhead next to him. Jim nodded in greeting while Red Arrow just stared at him. “As Wally was just telling you, he’s joining the Team for the time being.”

“Recognized. Artemis B-0-7.” The Zeta whirred to life, deposited Artemis, and powered back down. Once again everyone paused as Artemis took in the scene.

Wally once again began excitedly telling Artemis that Red Arrow had joined the Team. Jim winced at Artemis’s comment about the Team finally having a “real archer.” That was not a good sign. Eventually, Green Arrow spoke up and got everyone’s attention. He quickly began giving the Team a mission briefing and assigned it to Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Red Arrow. Artemis volunteered to go as well, being the best pilot they had for the Bioship.

“We should bring Jim with us as well,” Red Arrow said. “See what he can do.”

Jim went pale. He was not going on that mission. “How about no.”

“Ro- Red Arrow,” Kaldur said, placing a hand on the elder protege’s shoulder, “Jim is a civilian. We cannot bring him with us on a mission like this.”

"Please,” Red Arrow scoffed, “you took him with you when you went to find Red Tornado and he managed to hold his own against Robin in a fight. He’ll be fine.”

“One,” Jim said somewhat angrily, “Robin was holding back on me. Two, I stayed in the Bioship the entire time while they were dealing with the Reds. Three, for what they were planning they needed to take me with them. You have no reason to take me with you and ‘seeing what I can do’ makes it sound a lot like you’re going to throw me into a fight with highly trained mercenaries.”

“And how do we know you aren’t going to report back?”

“Report back!?”

“That is enough!” Kaldur stepped between the two, forcing Red Arrow to back down. “There is no traitor, Red Arrow. Jim is a civilian and will not be accompanying us on this mission, and that is final.”

Red Arrow scowled but let the matter drop. Jim frowned, that was the second time someone had accused him of being the traitor. Did he really seem like the type? Suppressing a wince, Jim realized that he was actually almost perfect for infiltrating the Team, after all, that was exactly what he was doing.

“I suggest you get a move on,” Red Tornado spoke up. “The mission is time sensitive.” The four young heroes nodded and filed out of the room. “Now, Mr. Lake, do you have anything to report form Arcadia?”

Jim shook his head, “Just the same old daily grind.” Which meant trying to track down the people that had captured Nomura and the others. Strickler had been right, the files were vague and didn’t say much about members, resources, origins, or motives. No one wanted to make any assumptions, but they were making their decisions based on the worst-case scenario. Worst case scenario being that they wanted to wipe out trolls. So far there had been no progress.

Well, Strickler had found some people he could interrogate, but considering the current plan of not attracting any attention, interrogation was off the table.

“Then perhaps you would like to spend some time with the rest of the Team. They may need to company,” Red Tornado suggested.

“Hey!” Superboy yelled over his shoulder. “We can entertain ourselves!”

“Then perhaps you should entertain Jim,” Tornado said.

“C’mon, Jim!” M’gann called, “You can teach me some more baking techniques!”

Jim chuckled to himself and went with it. That only kept the four of them occupied for a couple of hours, although, Jim was a bit surprised that he had managed to get Superboy involved in the cooking. Once they were done, the four set out to try and find something else to do. Jim managed to keep them busy for about another hour after that, a lot of party games and teaching the two aliens about modern pop culture and memes, and Jim found himself saying goodbye and abandoning the three to their fate. At the very least he could say he had stalled their boredom for a little while.

 

* * *

 

The next week Jim found himself once again under the piercing gaze of Red Arrow, who had decided against giving Jim his name. At the very least, the rest of the Team was there to help defuse the tension. Jim also had managed to get them out of the Cave and into town after borrowing some warmer clothes.

For the most part, they were doing Christmas shopping, and Robin displayed some amazing stealth by managing to buy a small handful of gifts for Zatanna, M’gann, and Superboy and managing distractions so others could do the same. Despite being in on the distractions for the other two, Jim didn’t think any of the three had actually caught on to what Robin was doing yet.

“Oh, hey, a magic shop!’ Zatanna said excitedly. “We should check it out!”

“Oh, come on,” Wally grumbled. “It’s just going to be a bunch of tacky sleight of hand tricks or crap magic crystals for your aura.”

“Maybe,” Robin answered, grinning at his friend’s discomfort, “but it’ll be fun to look at anyway.”

Wally groaned as the group marched over and filed into the decently sized shop. Jim chuckled. “Just let yourself have a little fun,” he whispered to Wally, nudging him as he walked past.

The group spread out to explore and quickly found that Wally was right. To an extent. There were tacky trick sets ranging from cards to cups to floating and disappearing balls, and there were also various crystals that Jim was fairly certain wouldn’t do much being marketed to balance people’s auras or provide certain protections, but there was also a hum of energy to the air. There were old books in strange languages on the walls and small trinkets scattered around that looked a little out of place among the street magic and everything else. What really caught Jim’s eye, though, was a necklace. The pendant hung from a plain thread and looked like jaws clamped around a small glowing green rock. This small-time magic dealer was selling a Grit-Shaka. Jim quickly glanced around and found the owner chatting it up with Zatanna who had most likely noticed the diamonds in the rough by now.

Jim looked closer at the other merchandise as he carefully wandered over to the shopkeeper. The man looked rather kind and gentle with an easy smile on his face and a round belly. If Jim hadn’t known better, he probably would have considered the man harmless.

“Really? Are you sure?” Zatanna asked, gripping one of the old leather-bound books with a wide grin on her face.

The owner laughed. “Of course! It’s the holiday season, and it’s not everyday someone as gifted as you walks into my store, m’dear. Take it. On the house, but just this once.”

Jim quickly glanced at the book in Zatanna’s arms. Either it wasn’t at all harmless or it wasn’t all that valuable if a changeling was willing to part with it so easily. At the very least it wasn’t in Trollish, but that also meant Jim didn’t know how dangerous the situation could be.

“Oh, thank you so much.” Zatanna suddenly reached across the counter and shook his hand, still grinning like an idiot. “I’ll have to remember to come back soon.”

“My door is always open for you, m’dear,” the man laughed.

Zatanna wandered off to continue looking through the man’s real wares, and Jim stepped forward. “And you, young man, what can I do for you?”

So, he was going to play dumb. “I couldn’t help but notice the necklace you have sitting out over there, how much would it cost?”

His smile faltered slightly, “That one’s rather powerful, do you know how to use it?”

Jim dropped his voice low and leaned over the counter, his smile becoming almost predatory. “I know exactly how to use it, and I _really_ don’t think you should be leaving something like that just lying around. Do you?”

His smile dropped entirely now. “Just who are you? Can’t say I recognize you and I know almost everyone around the parts.”

Jim straightened and held out his hand. “Jim Lake,” he said as the man shook it, “and what’s your name?”

The changeling’s eyes went wide, and his face went slack for a moment before he managed to regain his composure. “Dave Steele,” he said. “I’ll just, go put that away, now.”

Jim tightened his grip. “I think there are a few things we should work out first.”

Steele hesitated, but nodded.

Jim’s posture relaxed, and his smile eased. “For the most part, I don’t care what you do with your life. We don’t need to be enemies, but I still have a job to do. So, today I’ll give you a warning. If it’s Trollish or dangerous, get it off the shelves. After that, so long as I don’t hear anything that would make me think there’s someone interesting in the area, we won’t have any problems.”

Steele nodded more firmly this time. “I can do that. Actually, I think I might be able to help you out.” He had his easy-going salesman’s grin back on his face. Jim’s lip quirked a bit and an eyebrow raised, but he gestured for Steele to continue. “There’s things you need right? Things that are hard to get. Well,” Steel shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, “I can get them for you.”

Jim snorted. “I’ve already got people to help me on that front.”

“Ah, but there are things even RotGuts can’t get their hands on. Let me prove it to you. Come back in about a month, and I’ll have something real special for you.”

“Call me when you’ve got something. We’ll see what you can come up with.”

Steele’s grin got even wider. “You won’t be disappointed.”

Jim nodded and shook the man’s hand one last time before slipping away to wander the store again, watching for any items that would need to be removed. A few minutes later the group left the store to continue shopping.

“What was that about?” Red Arrow asked Jim as the teens wandered down the street.

“What are you talking about?” Jim asked, hoping Red hadn’t seen anything.

“That conversation you had with the owner.”

Jim cursed internally and shrugged at them. “I was just asking where he got some of the rocks. One of my friends is really into mineralogy.”

Robin shot Jim an incredulous look. “Jim, you looked like you were going to pull a knife on the guy if he didn’t do what you said.”

Jim blinked at them, trying his best to look innocent. “I wouldn’t have pulled a knife on him.” Jim would have pulled Daylight on him, but they didn’t need to know that.

The Team was silent, clearly not quite believing him. “Are we done yet?” Red Arrow asked, scowling at them. “I think we’ve hit every shop in town.”

Superboy shook his head. “I doubt we’ve even been to half of them, but we should wrap up.” A small chorus of agreements lead them back to the Cave in time to run into Batman.

“Jim,” he said.

“Batman,” Jim greeted, hefting his shopping bags up a little higher. It probably looked odd that he had gotten so much stuff, but he could probably defend himself by saying he was shopping for the Team and Claire’s family as well as his mom and Toby. Which would cover up the things he had bought for Draal, Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, Nomura, NotEnrique, and Strickler. Strickler’s was more of a gag gift than anything, but he was still getting one.

Batman sighed, “Report.”

Jim felt a swell of pride. If Batman was getting tired of playing this game, he might let Jim go. If Jim could just pull off the normal act a little longer and stay out of trouble, he might be able to get out of this. “Nothing new. Seriously, nothing happens. It’s a suburb that no one cares about.”

Batman nodded. “Come in on Saturday next week. Try to arrive before 5 AM Pacific Time. You’re spending the weekend here.”

“Don’t I need to talk to my mom first?”

“I already did. She’s given her permission.”

Jim blinked. “Alright then,” he turned to the Team. “I guess I’ll see you next week.”

“Bye, Jim!”

“See ya!”

Jim waved over his shoulder as more goodbyes echoed from the rest of the Team and Red Arrow simply watched. The Zeta Tube powered up, and he was gone.


	18. Chapter 18

Jim was extremely confused about why he was here this early, but apparently Batman had actually done his due diligence. The only thing Jim had managed to find out was that Batsy was taking him out of the country. Jim and his entire team were justifiably paranoid and had decided the others should be on standby for the duration of the trip. Jim yawned openly as he stepped through the Zeta Tubes with a travel bag slung over his shoulder.

A small, suppressed laugh caught Jim’s attention, and he looked up to find Wally grinning from ear to ear as he tried not to laugh. “Having a bit of trouble waking up?” he teased.

Jim rolled his eyes and gave Wally a tired glare. “It’s only four…” Jim checked his watch, “four thirty-seven for me. So, yes, I’m having a bit of trouble waking up.”

“Oh.”

It was Jim’s turn to laugh. “You forgot about times zones, didn’t you?”

A faint blush could be seen through Wally’s mask. “Shut up,” he mumbled before zipping off. Jim was only a little surprised to see Wally was in uniform. They tended to be in civvies when they hung out with Jim, but Jim figured that since they were leaving the country, that meant he was being taken on some kind of mission. Most likely one where Batman figured the Team would have to break reality to put Jim in danger. Jim did not have high hopes for the Team’s ability to limit the explosions.

“Good morning, Jim,” a voice came from behind him, just about scaring Jim out of his skin.

Once Jim had landed back on the ground and spun in the direction of the voice, he realized that it was only Batman. He released a breath and calmed his racing heart. “Don’t do that,” he grumbled. “I don’t want to have a heart attack before I finish high school.”

Batman smirked. “You can leave your bag in the spare room you’ll be using tonight. Once you’ve dropped it off, I have something for you.”

Jim quickly picked a room and dropped off his bag before returning to Batman in the mission room. “So, what’ve you got?”

Batman held out a small package. “Go change.”

Jim glanced between Batman and the package. “No, Batman,” he finally spoke, “civilians don’t need supersuits.”

“This is only temporary, and you will need it today.”

“Ba-”

“It has thermal tech you’re going to need. Unless you want hypothermia and frostbite, you will go put it on.”

“Fine, fine,” Jim scowled. “I’ll go put the thing on.”

Once back in his room, Jim changed quickly. The suit was bulkier and looser than the average supersuit, but all that meant was that is wasn’t skin tight and felt more like the jeans and jacket he was used to. It certainly wasn’t nearly as thick and bulky as the winter clothes he had seen in Happy Harbor and on TV. The suit itself was simple and actually rather boring. It was white, white, and a little off white. The pants were long and tucked into a sturdy pair of boots that laced up past his ankles and were held up by a thick belt that Jim didn’t think was entirely necessary. The top portion looked a bit like an ordinary hoodie with an undershirt, except that the undershirt had a collar that could be pulled over his mouth and nose and had attached gloves, while the hood came up tight over his head. It also came with a pair of goggles to protect and hide his eyes.

Jim kept the hood and mask down for now and looked closer at the goggles. They seemed to be the same design as Wally’s and had a series of buttons on the side. Jim put them on and began pressing the buttons. One switched to night vision and another to infrared. Another set was used to zoom in and out. The last button reset everything back to normal. Jim shoved the goggles in his pocket, along with his phone (set to silent), and the Amulet. Far better to know where the Amulet was than to have it show up at random.

Jim returned to the mission room to find Batman waiting. “The goggles-”

“Night vision and infrared with zoom capabilities,” said Jim. “I checked.”

Batman nodded and held out a small device. “Your communicator,” he explained at Jim’s confused look. “Wear it at all times, even if the Team relies heavily on Miss Martian’s telepathy you may need it. You are to only use their code names in the field, again, even if you are using telepathy.” Jim nodded as he put the communicator in his ear. “The suit also has adaptive camouflage technology. Press the center of your chest and it will switch from the arctic camouflage to night.”

Jim tested it, just to make sure everything was working, and he could find the switch. Sure enough, the white was replaced with black. He tapped it again and the white was back. He looked back to Batman to see if there were any other instructions.

“While you are in the field,” Batman began again, his voice seeming to get lower and even more serious. “You will keep the mask and hood up and you will always be wearing the goggles. What the Team calls you will be up to you. They are waiting in the Bioship and will brief you on the way.”

Jim nodded and left. This would not end well.

 

* * *

 

Eight hours later the newly renamed “Jay” (gold star for creativity guys) stretched out his legs and walked out of the Bioship into the Siberian wilderness. Thanks to time changes and travel, it was technically four AM the next day, which “Jay” didn’t really want to think about and meant the sun had yet to rise here. The rest of the Team stepped out of the camouflaged Bioship in their own dark camouflaged suits.

 _“Remind me again why I’m here,”_ Jay grumbled into the link.

 _“The long story short is ‘Batman said so,’”_ Robin responded. Jay could hear the amusement in his mental voice and the rest of the Team could feel it, smiling in response.

 _“Batman believes it will be good for you to see what we do on missions, specifically one that is unlikely to turn violent,”_ Aqualad continued.

 _“Yeah, I’m just gonna go ahead and call bullshit on that one,”_ Jay snorted and could hear a few chuckles rise from the group around him. _“Let’s just get this over with. Which way to the caves?”_ The caves were the reason Batman was sending them to Siberia in the first place. According to the Team there were reports of strange and inhuman carvings and ruins down there and the League wanted people on the ground. There hadn’t been any reports of other groups moving in yet, so Batman figured it would be safe enough.

The Team spread out and started moving through the trees surrounding the clearing that had been designated their landing zone, keeping Jay as close to the center of the pack as they could. _“North,”_ Red Arrow answered. _“Aqualad, how are we going to spread out?”_

 _“We will have to stay together until we come to the ruins,”_ he answered. _“We only know one rout through the caves and do not want to get lost.”_

 _“And when we get there?”_ Kid Flash asked.

_“We will have to see, but I would like to keep you and Superboy with Jay.”_

_“Congrats, Kid, you get babysitting duty!”_ Jay joked.

Once again there were barely suppressed snickers as Kid Flash groaned and grumbled. Superboy even joined in the ribbing.

 _“Are you always like this?”_ Red Arrow said.

 _“Always like what?”_ Jay asked back, enjoying himself. Jay was in the wonderful position of being able to watch Red Arrow while Red Arrow couldn’t watch him by simple virtue of being behind the impulsive and hot headed technically-adult, and right now, Red Arrow looked like he wanted to hit something. Most likely Jay.

_“Are you always such a child? Although, what I was really asking was about why you sound so different.”_

_“Ah,”_ Jay said, grinning under his mask. He should have remembered that Red Arrow wasn’t used to how Miss Martian’s telepathy interacted with him. _“To answer your more serious question: yes, I do. And to answer all of the questions that inevitably stem from that: I don’t know why, and that is what all of you sound like to me. Now, for your other question that was meant as an insult: I’m merely trying to pass the time seeing as I shouldn’t even be here.”_

 _“At least we can agree on something,”_ RA griped.

Jay chuckled to himself.

 _“Enough,”_ Aqualad sighed. This time he just sounded mildly tired as compared to the frustration he had shown at the pair’s interaction two weeks ago. _“Jay, stop antagonizing Red.”_ Jay turned and gave Aqualad a mock salute while still walking. _“Red, you’re joining the League in two weeks, act like it.”_

 _“You’re joining the League?”_ Jay asked, sounding impressed for once. _“Congratulations.”_

_“I don’t need-”_

_“Enough, Red.”_ Now, Aqualad sounded angry. Red Arrow dropped it and Jay kept the comment about “just trying to be nice” to himself.

A few minutes passed with the group walking in silence. _“Kid, scout ahead. Jay and Superboy, switch to thermals.”_

The three quickly complied, Kid Flash disappeared in a blur and Jay and Superboy each took a side, checking for anyone that could be a threat to the Team. As soon as Jay switched to infrared the world seemed to light up with blues and purples while a quick glance at the other teens revealed masses of red and orange, with spots of yellow and green with a haze of lighter violet trailing off of them. Aqualad and Miss Martian gave off the least heat of all of them. Jay quickly turned his attention back to scanning the surrounding area.

 _“Nothing,”_ Superboy reported.

 _“Nothing here either,”_ Jay echoed.

Kid Flash hesitated for a moment. _“Do you want me to scout the cave as well, or no?”_

_“Not yet, we will need to stay together.”_

Kid Flash returned a second later. _“No one top side, but there’s some tire tracks in the snow. Might be a few days old. Looks like some large trucks came through.”_

When Jay turned his gaze back to the group, he saw that Kid Flash was easily giving off more heat than anyone else.

 _“Could be locals,”_ Robin suggested.

 _“Or it could be someone else sent after the ruins,”_ Artemis quickly countered.

Kid Flash put in his own two cents. _“Even if they are after the ruins, they might just be scientists. They might not even still be there.”_

Jay raised an eyebrow the others couldn’t see. _“Since when are you that lucky?”_

Aqualad looked thoughtful. _“We continue as planned but be careful. We know nothing about these people.”_

The Team nodded, and Jay switched back out of heat vision. They moved in formation for several more minutes with Robin and Kid Flash alternately scouting ahead. They always came back with the same report: no people, just tire tracks.

Several minutes passed like this before they came to a halt. Just beyond the trees in front of them was a rocky cliff with a hole worn into it. Jay glanced at the ground, checking the tire marks for himself. The tracks crisscrossed and layered over themselves so many times it was impossible to say how many trucks there had been.

 _“Let’s move,”_ said Aqualad, _“and stay together.”_

 _“Yeah, yeah, we know,”_ Kid Flash griped as he stood and strode forward. The rest of the Team followed quickly.

 _“Relax, Aqualad,”_ Miss Martian said as she briefly laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, _“it’ll be an easy mission. Just a quick in and out.”_

Aqualad nodded and turned after his Team. As they wandered the caves Robin pulled up a map periodically and tracked their progress. No one spoke or joked. The only noise was the dripping water from the stalactites. Until it wasn’t anymore.

 _“I hear something,”_ Superboy announced, bringing the party to a halt. Everyone stood perfectly still to allow the kryptonian quiet. _“There’s a large group of people up ahead. Robin, can you pull up the map for me?”_ Robin complied, a small translucent blue map appearing in the air with a green dot to mark them and a red dot where they were going. Superboy glanced at the map and listened. _“They’re in the ruins. We’re too far away for me to make out what they’re saying right now.”_

Aqualad nodded. _“In the event of a fight, protect Jay first.”_

Everyone responded with an affirmative and they continued down the tunnels once more. As they approached, Superboy stopped them again, reporting that the group below them was actively interested in the ruins with no intention of leaving. He had yet to hear what was so special about the ruins. They once again gathered around the map trying to check for alternate routes.

Robin shook his head. _“The ruins are in a dead end. There’s only one way in or out.”_ He pointed to a section of tunnels that formed a bottle neck.

 _“They’ll have guards posted there,”_ Red Arrow pointed out.

 _“We could take them out,”_ Superboy suggested. _“Hog tie them and just walk through.”_

Jay shook his head. _“There’s bound to be rotating shifts and roamers. If any of them notice the guards out front are gone or tries to check in over the radio, they’ll know someone was here.”_

He got some odd looks, but no one argued with him. _“Miss Martian, camouflage yourself and go check it out.”_

Miss Martian faded into little more than a hazy outline and flew down the cave to the choke point. Only a moment passed before her voice filled their heads again. _“Three guards, all armed. They seem to be wearing a military uniform, but I don’t recognize it.”_

 _“Send us an image,”_ Robin suggested. The sight of three guards with assault rifles in full tactical gear flashed through the Team’s minds. Jay alone couldn’t see the image. It suddenly cut in close to the patches on their sleeves. The most prominent patch was circular and broken into six pieces, each with its own glyph.

 _“I don’t recognize that symbol,”_ Red Arrow mused. _“They must be paramilitary.”_

Robin gave a noncommittal hum. _“I don’t recognize them either. I wonder…”_

 _“Wait,”_ Kid Flash said, looking somehow both excited and terrified, _“if you don’t know, that means Bats doesn’t know. Which means-”_

 _“They are good at staying below the radar,”_ Aqualad finished. _“I do not want to know what lengths they would go to to keep it that way.”_

Jay looked thoughtful for a moment. _“You know, you could always do this the nonviolent- probably just less violent- way.”_

 _"And what would that be?”_ Red Arrow challenged.

Jay grinned, _“Diplomacy.”_

 _“You suggest we just walk up and introduce ourselves,”_ Kid Flash chuckled. _“Really well thought out plan there.”_

Jay rolled his eyes behind his goggles. _“I suggest a small group acts as a distraction by just walking up and introducing themselves. The rest slip by while everyone’s busy and can ambush them if things go south.”_

The Team exchanged looks. _“Not a bad plan,”_ Robin grinned. _“A few holes, but we can probably work them out.”_

Jay made a gesture with his hands. _“Ask away.”_

 _"How do we keep them from shooting at us in the first place?”_ Aqualad posed the first question. _“Or once they realize we could report their existence to the League.”_

The Team thought. Jay perked up a moment later, _“Be loud and be obvious. Your job isn’t stealth anymore anyway. Give them plenty of time to adjust to the idea that you’re there. And you’re going to have to act like the League already knows about them. Maybe you were specifically sent down here to check on them, not the ruins.”_

Aqualad nodded. _“Robin, Red Arrow, Superboy, and Jay are with me. We will serve as the distraction.”_ He turned to Jay. _“I would rather have kept you out of sight, but-”_

_“I’m not trained for stealth like this. Hell, I’m not trained for any of this. Hey, which is better for this, white or black?”_

_"White,”_ Robin answered. _“We’re going for loud and proud, and the black will make it look like you belong to the Shadows.”_

Aqualad nodded. _“Agreed.”_

Jay nodded back and switched from the darker camouflage, Aqualad and Robin did the same with their suits as well. A few more questions later, and the Team had a decent plan. Aqualad glanced at Jay one last time. _“Don’t speak unless you have to,”_ he instructed.

Jay nodded distractedly as he took a steadying breath. _“Keep the attention off me. Got it.”_ Nothing else was said as the group of five strode out. Aqualad and Robin beginning a loud conversation.

Superboy placed himself in the front of the group as they rounded the corner into the guards’ sights. No bullets were fired, but they did have their guns ready and immediately demanded that the boys stay where they were and keep their hands where they could see them. They complied, staying behind Superboy and Red Arrow responded with a demand to speak with their leader. Thus, the standoff began while they waited for whoever was in charge to arrive.


	19. Chapter 19

“What on earth is going on!?” the voice was gruff and carried authority like it was absolutely natural. Three more guards arrived and took up positions around the five boys, and a tall imposing man stepped up behind the original three.

“They were trying to get in, Sir!” one guard answered. “Then they asked to see you, Sir!”

The man looked at the boys. “Eh, they’re with the League, kid. Put your weapons down.”

_“What.”_

Jay had to fight to avoid laughing at Robin’s surprise. _“Diplomacy for the win.”_

The boys slowly lowered their hands, trying to not look confused. Meanwhile the guards around them all exchanged a hesitant look and slowly lowered their weapons, not bothering to hide their confusion at all.

“C’mon, boys, you must have questions,” the man said as he turned and began walking away. After a moment of confusion, the five quickly moved to catch up and walk with him.

“Sorry, but who are you?” Robin asked, dropping all pretense of knowing what was going on.

 _“They weren’t as distracted as we’d hoped. Only Miss M made it through,”_ Kid Flash’s voice announced.

 _“Acknowledged,”_ Aqualad responded before turning his attention back to the conversation.

While they wandered past, Jay took a glance at the patches they wore, and very nearly fell flat on his face. The patches matched the back of the Amulet. He forced himself to look forward and ignore the familiar symbols. As the group walked, Jay took in the ruins the Team had been sent to investigate. The buildings seemed to be Trollish in proportion and design but looked far older than anything Jim had seen in Trollmarket.

“I am General Roland Hunt, and before you start going on about this not being an army, I served in the armed forces for several years before coming here. These fine young men and women, along with myself, of course, are members of the Order of Merlin.” Jay had to stop himself from reacting again. They wore markings from the Amulet and worked under Merlin’s name but were human. The only humans that were supposed to know were in Arcadia… or the unknowns from Cincinnati.

“You’re being awfully straight forward,” Red Arrow pointed out. The general simply laughed in response.

“We never did want to hide from the Justice League, but we couldn’t be sure where our enemies were, so we just chose to hide from everyone. Better safe than sorry and all that.”

“Your enemies?” Robin asked.

 _“Not much in the ruins. All of their attention seems to be focused on a door in the back. They can’t get through it,”_ Miss Martian reported.

General Hunt nodded with a grunt. “Trolls. Dangerous creatures. Tried to wipe out humanity once before by our reckoning. We managed to drive them back, but they’re still out there somewhere, biding their time.”

Aqualad’s brow furrowed in a confused, and concerned, frown. “Trolls?”

“What evidence do you have?” Robin asked.

General Hunt gestured around them. “This place, for starters. It’s an old settlement, clearly abandoned a long time ago. We’ve also got an old text we managed to translate. Back from the time of Merlin.”

All five of the teens stopped. Aqualad, Robin, Superboy, and Red Arrow all looked like they were considering throwing the man in a mental hospital and never looking back. Trolls, maybe, this place wasn’t exactly human, but Merlin? That was too much. Jay was extremely glad his face was covered with how pale he was sure it had gone.

General Hunt sighed. “Yes, I know. It sounds insane. Where did you think we got the name? C’mon, we should keep walking, you haven’t seen the best part yet.” He gestured for them to follow once again and turned to lead them through the abandoned village. “That document alone detailed the horrors of the first war. Countless human lives were lost. Then Merlin created a weapon for humanity to fight back and bestowed it on someone known as the Trollhunter. Ah, here we are.”

By now the small group had crossed the remains and come out the other side. In front of them were steps leading to a massive door with a large sphere embedded in the middle that had a four-fingered hand print carved onto it. The door was surrounded by equipment and people to run and monitor it.

“Fire!” one woman cried out. One of the machines launched a large steel ball at the door, but, before it could connect, a large burst of light filled the area, followed by a silent shockwave knocking them all off balance. As the light faded, a blue shimmering field could be seen extending around the door. The ball lay in small chunks at the base of the door. Just within this field was a large stone carving of a sword embedded in the ground. More specifically, Daylight embedded about halfway to the hilt when it was proportioned for a troll. Trollish script glowed blue across the vault door.

“Anything new, Ross?” General Hunt asked. The woman that had ordered the strike spun towards them and saluted.

“Sir!”

“At ease.”

“No progress, sir,” she said as she relaxed. “Our sensors can’t pick anything up and that was the most powerful response yet. It only seems to be getting worse the more we try.”

Jay ignored them but was mildly amused at their troubles. The reaction had gotten stronger because the defenses had drawn from the Amulet. He turned his attention back to the writing. Even as the blue glow faded, the words had remained. _A memorial and resting place for those the Trollhunter could not save._

“What was that?” Robin breathed as he recovered.

“Huh?” General Hunt grunted. “Oh, that. This place may be interesting proof of something, but we think this is where the weapon Merlin created was hidden away once the war ended.”

“Why?” Aqualad asked.

“That sword up there, the writing, the defenses. They put a lot into this place, even if it doesn’t have that weapon, it’ll have something useful.”

Jay scowled under his mask. They knew nothing. They were going to defile this place for something that didn’t even exist. Not the way they thought it did, or the way they wanted it to. He couldn’t let them, but he couldn’t say anything either.

There was a moment of silence. The Team clearly didn’t believe him just yet. “Why do you need this weapon so badly?” Superboy asked. “Surely modern weaponry would work better than something created by Merlin.”

General Hunt laughed. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Nah, they seem resistant to most things. And anyway, we don’t want to start an all-out war if we can avoid it. Even with the weapon there would be far too many lives lost.”

Robin’s head swung around from the building he had been checking out. “Wait, how can you know that?”

“We got our hands on some. Ran some tests. Never killed any. Then a few weeks back everything falls apart and the bastards disappear.”

“You…” Superboy looked like he was going to be sick. Jay certainly would have felt the same way if he hadn’t already known about that.

“It took us a long time to get even one of them,” Hunt mused to himself. “Fifty years, we’ve been doin’ this, and we only start getting them after we recruited Bates twenty years ago.” He laughed. “Even she couldn’t get a real one until fifteen years ago.”

Jay was almost ecstatic. Horrified, but ecstatic. If he could just keep this guy talking… _“This stuff looks expensive,”_ Jay mused into the link. Hopefully someone picked up on his train of thought.

Lucky him, Aqualad did. “This equipment is very high end, must have been hard to get.”

Hunt laughed again. “No, we’ve got it good here. Frank Sherman was a founding member of the Order. Keeps us well cared for.”

Jay was positively beaming under his mask. He hated them and wanted them to just _get out_ , but if they were going to be here at least they had the decency to spill all of their hard-kept secrets and give him everything he needed.

“Ready!” a voice yelled from the equipment.

Ross glanced over her shoulder at the workers waiting for her order. She gave Hunt a nod and a quick “Sir,” before she turned back to her people. A moment passed. “Fire!” she yelled. Another steel ball was flung at the barrier. Once again, it flared and pushed back before fading into a flickering blue light, with shattered pieces of metal at the base. A small pile had built up over the numerous tests they had undoubtedly run.

A moment of silence followed as the teens processed everything. “Do you mind if we take a look around for ourselves?” Aqualad finally asked.

“Huh? Oh, knock yourselves out,” General Hunt waved a hand dismissively without even looking at them.

Aqualad glanced around for a moment, deciding where to go next. _“Miss Martian, can you keep the guards from noticing Artemis, Zatanna, and Kid Flash as they pass?”_ he asked.

Miss Martian hesitated. _“That’s pretty complicated. On one I might be able to, but not on three at once.”_

 _"I think I have a spell that will work,”_ Zatanna offered. _“It won’t make us invisible, but it will make us hard to notice.”_

 _“Why don’t we use that more often?”_ said Robin. _“It would be really helpful.”_

_“Because I only just learned it well enough to use it on a mission, it takes a lot of energy, and we still have to be careful. If we touch them or make a lot of noise or move something that isn’t being affected by the spell, it will break.”_

_“Whatever,”_ Kid Flash said, cutting off any other conversation. _“If it gets us inside, it gets us inside. I’m tired of waiting out here.”_

 _“Do it,”_ Aqualad ordered. _“As soon as you’re out of sight, stop the spell and return to our normal tactics.”_

 _“Understood,”_ Zatanna answered. The link went silent as the remaining three teens went to work. _“We’re through,”_ Zatanna announced and a collective sigh of relief could be heard through the link.

 _“Spread out and cover as much ground as you can,”_ Aqualad turned to the other four boys with him. _“We will try and find Robin a computer to hack. Miss Martian, scan the surface of their minds. Everyone, take pictures and record as much as you can.”_

Affirmatives rang back. The next few hours were spent exploring the abandoned houses and shops. The place really was a bunch of ruins. Rubble from caved in buildings and tunnel systems filled the old streets. The crystals that would have once lit the way were shattered and had long since lost their light. There were pots and carvings and bits of graffiti all over the place. Initially, Jay would read anything he came across, but he eventually had to stop. Most of the writings that had survived chronicled the final days of Aysgarth as it was besieged by the Gumm-Gumms. The rest of the surviving writings were merely random phrases of “So-and-so was here” and other things like that.

 _“There’s nothing here,”_ Kid Flash groaned.

 _“I can’t even get to the computers,”_ Robin said. _“They’re all in use or under guard.”_

Miss Martian was of a similar opinion. _“None of them seem to know anything concrete except for Hunt and Ross. Even then, they’ve only really read reports. This is the first time either of them has actually seen any evidence in person.”_

Aqualad nodded. _“Zatanna, get Kid Flash and Artemis back out. Miss Martian, go with them. Wait for us at the bend where we split into groups.”_

Everyone confirmed and began carrying out their tasks. _“And what are we doing?”_ Jay asked as he followed the rest of his small group.

 _“We will be thanking General Hunt for his hospitality,”_ Aqualad answered.

Jay’s stomach turned at the thought of thanking that man for anything, but he held down the bile and forced himself to remain silent on the matter. As far as the Team was concerned, he had been extremely hospitably to them. He was an open book. They quickly returned to the vault in the back, where they scientists and Hunt were still trying to break through the barrier.

“General Hunt!” Aqualad called out from a little ways away, catching the man’s attention. “I must thank you for allowing us to wander around and see the ruins for ourselves and for answering our questions,” he continued once Hunt had turned his full attention to the boys. “You have been most helpful.”

“It’s not a problem,” Hunt answered. “I never did like us hiding from the League, but it was a necessary evil. Since you were here, I figured, why not?”

“Fire!”

Jay scowled as another wave of light and force flowed over the group. The barrier would only last for so long before they finally forced their way through. It might not be the weapon they were looking for, but Jay couldn’t just let them defile a final resting place. It was meant to be sealed forever, both out of respect for the dead and as a protection against gruesomes.

Jay glanced around to confirm that there was nothing he could do. He was surprised to find the crystal shards on the ground had begun to glow. He slipped his hand into his pocket and felt the magic from the Amulet leaking into the air and traveling to anything Trollish. The barrier, the vault door itself, and the crystals on the ground. The bursts of energy from the barrier were also charging the crystals.

“Ready!”

Jay looked closer at the charged crystals. Red, blue, orange, a large pile of purple.

“Fire!”

A jolt of light and wave of pressure. The crystals jumped and moved. The purple ones were pressed against a wall and the others all moved in that direction, some scattering a bit erratically. The barrier was still getting stronger as it pulled from the Amulet.

“Are you sure it’s safe to be messing with that?” Red Arrow asked.

General Hunt shook his head. “With how that thing is behaving, no, but we can’t ignore it.”

Jay smiled to himself. Those crystals should never have been placed near each other and likely had been combined the way they were to be weaponized. Individually, they were harmless everyday items. Together, they could make some rather big booms. Once they made contact with each other, they would expel all the energy they had accumulated. The resulting shock wave would probably be enough to bring half the cave down on top of them. The vault would survive the blast, absorbing the energy and using it.

“Jay?”

Jay shook himself out of his thoughts. Robin and Superboy looked worried. “I’m fine,” he said, brushing off their concern. The boys nodded and said one last farewell to General Hunt before beginning their trip back to the surface.

 _“What was that about?”_ Robin asked, shooting Jay another concerned look.

 _“What was what?”_ Kid Flash asked over the link.

Superboy answered. _“Jay zoned out for a while.”_

 _“Those crystals weren’t glowing before,”_ Jay said. It wouldn’t matter if they knew that much. They didn’t know what it meant, much less how to stop it. Even if they did, Jay doubted they’d be able to stop Hunt and Ross.

 _“Does that mean something?”_ Miss Martian asked.

Jay shrugged. _“I don’t know. They’re just… glowing.”_

 _“It definitely means something,”_ Red Arrow said, _“the question is what.”_

 _“Should we take a sample?”_ Kid Flash asked.

 _“No,”_ Zatanna answered. _“I did pick up some magic in there. Most of it seems to be protective. If we remove anything it might set it off.”_

 _“Wouldn’t the Order set it off then?”_ Robin pointed out.

Jay snorted. _“I’m pretty sure they already are,”_ he said. _“Doesn’t seem to be stopping them.”_

 _“Jay’s right,”_ Zatanna agreed quickly. _“I doubt they’d care, even if they did understand the warnings.”_

 _“So there’s nothing we can do? We’re supposed to be heroes!”_ Artemis said.

Jay sighed. _“You can’t protect someone that doesn’t want to be protected, Artemis. There’s no point in it.”_

The conversation fell silent from there. The Team clearly didn’t like that concept and it chafed against everything they thought they knew. As they climbed back out of the caves and into the twilight, the teens began to banter again, falling into lighter spirits. The trip back to the Bioship felt much shorter as they traveled easily with a bounce in their step. Once back they settled down for the flight to Mount Justice, joking and eating and preparing reports. Jay once again became Jim and relaxed, knowing the vault would be safe, and there was nothing he really could have done to stop the fools in the Order of Merlin from getting themselves hurt. He even started preparing his own report on them for Blinky and Strickler, who would need it the most.

Hours into the flight, Jim felt himself starting to tire, but forced himself to stay awake with the rest of the Team. A quick glance at his watch confirmed his idea that it wasn’t even that later yet, he was just getting tired from sitting still for so long after forcing himself to be civil to a genocidal maniac.

They finally landed at what would have been midnight back in Arcadia and Jim was sent off to his room while the Team reported in to Batman. Jim changed as quickly as he could and collapsed onto his borrowed bed, exhausted.


	20. Chapter 20

Jim jolted up right, panting, shaking, and sweating. Moments later his mind adjusted to his surroundings and he flopped back down, taking great gulps of air to try and calm his racing heart. He rolled out of his bed in the dark and stood. His legs shook for a moment, almost giving out and dropping him on the floor before steadying. One more deep breath and Jim was walking over to his dresser where he only paused for a moment to check the time quickly pulled out some fresh pajamas and changed out of his sweat soaked set and into the new ones.

Glancing around, Jim wandered down to the kitchen and began puttering about, trying to find something to do to get his mind off his latest nightmare. Eventually, he settled on making some hot chocolate. While he worked, his mind continued to wander, inevitably drawn back to the dream and its cause.

Usually, he would dream of the Darklands, Aaarrrgghh’s death, the fears the pixies had shown him, his ill-fated wish, or any of the other numerous times things had gone horribly wrong. Now, he had something new to dream about, and he wasn’t entirely sure why it was there. Since the mission, Jim had found himself dreaming of Aysgarth and the Order of Merlin. Sometimes Jim would dream of the Order cracking open the vault and seeing the statues left inside. Of them taking the figures for tests and shattering others. Other times Jim would be with them when the crystals connected, and the cave came down on top of them, burying them alive.

Jim sat and nursed his hot chocolate. It wasn’t helping much. His mind wandered, and he would stop moving for long stretches of time, allowing the drink to go cold before he was even halfway done. Jim wrinkled his nose at the offending liquid before tossing it in the sink. He checked the time again. Three thirty. He was awake now and didn’t think he would be going back to sleep anytime soon. With a heavy sigh, he stood once more and trooped back up to his room where he changed into ordinary clothes. On his way back down, he left a quick note to his mother. _Couldn’t sleep. Gone to Forge._

Making sure he had his phone and the Amulet, Jim hopped on his Vespa and left. Hopefully destroying training dummies and running obstacle courses would help him get his head back on his shoulders. The only good thing he could think of was that he was on winter break and didn’t have to go to school dead tired once the sun rose.

The air was still brisker than it should have been, with small piles of snow still littering the sidewalks. At the very least, most of the snow had been moved down to the canals and was melting fairly rapidly there. Jim groaned to himself when he remembered that he was going to have to traverse the snowy landscape to get into Trollmarket. It was almost enough to make him turn back and find somewhere else to go and something else to do, but he didn’t want to worry his mom any more than he already was, so he stuck to his original decision.

Once there, he quickly stashed his Vespa out of sight and slipped through the shadows down into Trollmarket. The crystal stairs no longer lit up as bright as they once had and provided only enough light to barely make out their edges and the wall. Jim turned on his phones flash light to help him navigate the uneven steps.

Jim had to keep the flashlight on as he traversed Trollmarket itself as well. The light crystals had been dimmed and extinguished to conserve energy during the hours the locals were asleep. The trolls were sleeping more now, too, with the Heartstone trying to support them on less and less. The Heartstone itself was sickening to see. The black veins twisted along the entire length and the base was almost completely black. Jim could only thank God or whatever deity was out there that they corruption spread slowly.

Pushing those thoughts out of his head, Jim directed himself towards the Forge. He kept his footsteps quiet and his flashlight pointed at the floor, trying not to disturb anyone. Once within the dark path leading into the Hero’s Forge, Jim called up his armor and put his phone away. There was no one he could disturb here, it was empty, and it was his training ground, his proving ground. He would train.

Jim quickly chose the setting he wanted and set to work. He dodged blades, hopped from platform to platform, blocked spears and blasts of fire, and cut through dummy after dummy. He rolled and leaped. He slid across the ground and hopped to his feet. He stumbled, recovered, and kept moving. One of the blades came too close for comfort. Jim overcorrected and threw himself off balance, falling to the floor. He opened his eyes as a blade swung towards him. His eyes squeezed shut, it was too late to move out of the way. Nothing happened. Jim peeked through a crack in his eyelashes and saw the blade stopped not even an inch above his head. Slowly, it retracted, and the Forge reset itself as the Soothscryer rose from the ground.

Jim groaned again, flopping more heavily against the ground. Once the Forge stopped moving, Jim stood and walked over to the glowing red contraption. Sticking Daylight into the floor, Jim climbed up and stuck his hand in the figure’s mouth and was pulled into the Void.

The Void looked exactly the same as it always did. It was the Forge without the usual light and with Trollish constellations illuminating the ceiling. The whispers started.

_He doubts himself._

_Should have learned from last time._

_Regrets what is necessary._

With each new voice another toll statue’s eyes lit blue as they watched him.

“He does not need you degrading him,” Kanjigar spoke as he formed from mist and light, striding confidently across the ground. “We all have made choices we regret or doubt afterwards. No matter how necessary they felt at the time.”

The whispers went silent. Jim snorted, but held his doubts to himself. While he doubted Kanjigar or Deya had ever had these doubts, the others seemed thoroughly chastised.

Kanjigar sighed and hung his head. “You doubt your abilities again and, despite all your talk of being stronger together and sharing the burden, come here to train alone and distracted. We understand your struggle James Lake, we have struggled beneath it ourselves, but you must take care of yourself.” Kanjigar placed one of his large hands on Jim’s shoulder.

Jim shrugged off Kanjigar’s comfort and looked at the floor, rather than see the dead troll’s care and concern. “I just left countless people to die, Kanjigar. I’m supposed to protect them, and I turned my back on them just because they were being stupid.”

Rather than answer, Kanjigar called up a memory. _You can’t protect someone who doesn’t want to be protected, Artemis. There’s no point in it._

Jim winced at his own voice echoing through the room. “You have long since understood the sacrifices of your position, James Lake, particularly when it came to Gunmar and his armies, but not when it comes to humans,” Kanjigar said as he dismissed the memory. “They were a threat to trolls and, as a result, to other humans as well as changelings and anyone connected to our society. They would not have listened, and you could not betray your cover. You could not have saved them.”

“But aren’t I a threat to the secret as well? I carry the Amulet everywhere and a Horngazel most places. Toby and Claire carry their own weapons made from troll magic as well. Then there’s Steve and Eli and my mom and the changelings and Draal is still living in my basement. The Justice League is still keeping an eye on me, too! Everywhere I go, everything I am, is a security risk.”

“You are the Trollhunter,” Kanjigar said. “It has always been accepted that we must risk that security in order to do our jobs. We have also long since accepted the risk you bring with your friends and allies. You are right to say you are far stronger together than apart.”

Jim knew they had taken to him and his friends and come around to his way of thinking the more he fought alongside Toby, Claire, Blinky, and Aaarrrgghh, but it was something else to hear Kanjigar actually say it. “But they’re people.”

"And so were Bular and Gunmar. So was Angor Rot, soul or no. You did what you had to do, there was no other option available to you.”

Jim didn’t respond.

Kanjigar sighed again. “Go home, James Lake. Get some sleep. You need your rest keep the Justice League away from Trollmarket.”

Jim nodded as he felt reality shifting again. The stars faded, and the dark ambiance was replaced with the warm Forge, moving in from the edges. His shoulders slumped. He wasn’t truly out of the council’s sight, but at least he could pretend he was now that he wasn’t in the Void. As soon as he was fully back in the physical realm, his armor vanished.

Jim started walking, his eyes unseeingly locked on the ground. His feet moved without his saying, a living automaton. He didn’t want to sleep, but his body and mind were exhausted. He moved, shuffling, through the dark alleys of Trollmarket. Finally, he could walk no further. He stumbled to the side, finding an out of the way cranny and curling into a tight ball before slipping into sleep.

 

* * *

 

Walter Strickler had not expected to find Jim curled in an odd corner of Trollmarket when he went down to search Blinky’s library. It was still early and Trollmarket hadn’t woken yet. A quick glance around confirmed what he already knew, they were completely alone. He crouched down and gently shook the boy’s shoulder.

“Jim,” he hissed. “Jim, wake up.”

Jim mumbled something that sounded like “five more minutes.”

Strickler sighed and shook Jim harder. “Jim, you can’t sleep here. You need to wake up.”

Jim twitched and jerked, banging his head against the stone wall he had pressed his back against. His eyes blinked, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings. “Huh?”

“Jim.”

Jim jerked again smacking his head against the wall again. “Ow,” he muttered as he rubbed the back of his head, finally blinking up at his teacher. “Strickler?”

“C’mon, Jim, you need to get up.”

Jim groaned and dropped his head back on the arm he had been using as a pillow. “M’tired,” he whined.

“You can’t sleep here, Jim.”

Jim said nothing but screwed up his face in protest. Strickler groaned internally before reaching out to grab Jim’s arm. “Young Atlas, you need to get up. You can go back to sleep once we find you a better place.”

Jim groaned again, rag dolling and forcing Strickler to try and manipulate his limp body. Unfortunately for him, Strickler was rather familiar with how to handle dead weight. He just didn’t usually have to worry about hurting them in the process. He did manage to get Jim up, pulling one of Jim’s arms around his shoulders and getting his other arm around Jim’s waist, and started walking, half dragging the boy with him.

“You were sleeping on the ground, Jim. What are you even doing here?” he grumbled to himself.

“Couldn’ sleep,” Jim mumbled, finally starting to carry his own weight. “Trained.”

Strickler almost dropped the teen. Jim yelped when his support suddenly vanished and looked a little more awake once Strickler had steady him again, but not by much. “You what!?” he hissed. “You can’t train like this, Jim! Certainly not alone!”

“Shuddup, Strick’er.”

Strickler groaned again and kept walking. They weren’t too far from Blinky’s library, he could probably get Jim to sleep there while he worked, but it would be easier if Jim was awake enough to walk, and Jim was rapidly falling back asleep. “Why couldn’t you sleep, Young Atlas?”

Jim began grumbling angrily under his breath while stumbling along, the majority of his weight against Strickler.

“I’m afraid I couldn’t understand that, Jim. You’re going to have to speak up,” Strickler teased. Sure, it wasn’t usually the best idea to poke fun at Jim, but it was definitely something that would wake him up.

Jim heaved a sigh but focused more on getting his words to form coherent sentences loud enough for Strickler to hear them. “Nightmares. Couldn’ stop thin’ing abou’ the explosion an’ the Order.”

Strickler sent half a glance at Jim. He could assume based on context that Jim was talking about the Order of Merlin and the explosion he’d allowed to happen in the caves. “Let me guess,” the older man muttered, mostly to himself, “you feel guilty about it. Like you should have done something.”

Jim hummed in agreement, too tired to try and defend himself.

Strickler sighed as they pair finally stumbled into Blinky’s library. He quickly deposited Jim at the table and took a seat next to him. “Jim,” he said softly, “you did what you had to do. You might not like it or be comfortable with it, and right now, you don’t have to be. But you can’t change the past. All you can do is think about what you could do in the future.”

Jim was resting his head on the table, starting to drift off again. Strickler rolled his eyes slightly and shoved Jim’s shoulder just hard enough to wake the boy up again. “Jim,” he said firmly as Jim blinked back up at him, sitting up. Once Strickler was reasonably sure Jim was paying attention, he tried again. “If you could go back, what would you do differently?”

Jim kept blinking for a moment, processing the question. “I’d tell them to stop. To leave Aysgarth alone.”

Strickler nodded. “And would they listen to you?”

Jim hesitated, but shook his head.

“How would you get them to listen to you?”

“I don’t know. I can’t tell them I’m the Trollhunter, or about the Amulet. They’d use it. It’d be proof.” Jim still sounded half asleep, with the way he spoke, quiet and slow, and he sounded a more than a little beat up and distressed, as well, but at the very least he was awake enough that he wasn’t slurring his words anymore.

“So, you can’t just tell them to stop, and I assume you can’t force them to either?” Strickler asked.

Jim nodded, eyes losing focus on the table again. Strickler snapped his fingers under Jim’s nose, and the boy jerked up, glaring softly. “What else could you do?”

Jim wrinkled his nose but answered anyway. “I could have moved the crystals. Saved them.”

“And they would have found proof of trolls,” Strickler said. “They would have found an unknown number of troll remains to study. Is that what you want?” Strickler carefully kept his voice calm and level even as his stomach churned at the thought of people like that getting access to troll remains.

Jim reared back in disgust. “No,” he said firmly.

Strickler held back his relief. Now was not the time. “Which leaves only one course of action left. They weren’t good people, Jim.”

Jim shook his head. “Some of them didn’t really believe what they said. Were just there for the pay. They didn’t deserve it.”

Strickler’s lips pursed. He couldn’t be surprised that that was the real problem for Jim. After all, Jim had no problems with killing Gunmar and Bular and had only mourned Angor Rot in the sense that the troll had been a victim of poor choices and circumstance, but he had wanted desperately to free those trapped under Gunmar’s control through the Decimaar Blade. He had managed to save Draal, which managed to bolster his spirits somewhat, but most of those Gunmar had taken were lost during the fighting. Jim had managed to find a way to mourn them and move on, he had accepted that it wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t even been there for most of them, but this time…

“I have no doubt there were some that fit that description there,” Strickler finally conceded, “and you can always try to minimize how many of them die or are injured, but in the end, they have still chosen to work with your enemies and will stand against us if told to. You couldn’t have saved them, Jim. If you had left it, they likely would have been pulled more firmly to the Order’s side, turning them from an unfortunate casualty, into actual enemies.”

Jim winced. “Just let me sleep, Strickler.”

Strickler nodded slightly and stood. “I’ve said my piece. Get some rest.”

Jim looked suspicious for a moment before shrugging to himself and flopping back against the table with a muffled “ow.”

Strickler chuckled as he began looking over the piles and shelves of books. “I know Blinky keeps some blankets and pillows around,” he said lightly. “Perhaps you would should make use of them.”

Jim grumbled, but stood and staggered over to the hidden little nook where Blinky kept the soft items. Once he had an armful, Jim shuffled back over to the table and crawled under it, making himself a small nest to curl up in. Strickler watch fondly as the younger boy drifted back to sleep. A small glance at his watch told Strickler Barbara wouldn’t be up yet and calling her likely wouldn’t be the best of ideas. She didn’t like hearing from him in the first place these days. Waking her up in the middle of the night to tell her Jim had done something foolish again wasn’t at the top of his to do list. Instead he chose to shoot off a short text. _Jim is sleeping in Blinky’s library._ He wrote. He debated saying more but decided against it. If she wanted to know more, she would ask.

With Jim’s soft and steady breathing in the background, Strickler set back to work.


	21. Chapter 21

Jim knocked on the front door of the Nuñez house. He was supposed to be picking Claire up, so they could go see a movie together to celebrate the New Year. Sure, it was the wrong day, but what better way to skip the crowds? And Claire’s mom had asked them both to be present for a New Year’s party in city hall, so the night wasn’t really theirs to spend as they wished anyway.

There was no answer. Jim knocked again. Glancing around, Jim thought through the timeline for the day. Mr. and Mrs. Nuñez would be at city hall right about now, helping to set up for the party and handling some last-minute politics and meetings. Claire and Jim would hang out for a few minutes with Enrique while they waited for Mary to arrive to babysit. Jim checked his watch, he was only a few minutes early, Claire should be expecting him.

He tried the doorbell. Still no answer. Jim checked the doorknob. It was locked. It was probably a good thing Jim knew how to get into the house without using the front door. Namely, Claire’s window, which was kept unlocked for NotEnrique, but that wasn’t to say it was unprotected.

Climbing up the pillar and over the roof to Claire’s window was easy and almost routine. Jim slid open the window and climbed inside, quickly moving out of Claire’s room and into the rest of the house. “Claire?” he called as he began searching. He checked Enrique’s bedroom first. The crib had been replaced with a small toddler bed months ago, but the room was empty, so Jim moved on.

“Claire?” he called again.

A groan echoed from the main floor and Jim bolted down the stairs as he felt his heart stop in his chest. Glancing around, Jim found Claire on the floor of the kitchen. She rubbed at her head, eyes squeezed shut. “Jim?” she called out.

“I’m right here,” he responded, dropping to his knees next to her and helping her stand slowly.

Claire frowned and looked around confusedly. Suddenly, she froze and her face paled. “Where’s Enrique?” she asked.

Jim went still. “I haven’t seen him.”

“Enrique!?” Claire yelled, bolting around the house. Jim let her go, splitting up to search faster.

“Enrique?” he called.

The search continued, growing more and more frantic as they came to the realization that Enrique just wasn’t there.

Finally, the pair came back together, Claire almost hyperventilating. “He’s not here, Jim! What are we going to do!?”

Jim pulled her into a hug. “We’ll figure something out. We’ll find him-” Jim was going to keep going but got cut off when his phone started ringing. He kept one arm around Claire as he pulled it out and checked the number. A small frown crossed his face when he didn’t recognize the number. He spared Claire a small glance and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead for comfort. “I’m going to put it on speaker,” he whispered. “It’s probably best if they think I’m alone. Just in case.”

Claire nodded as Jim held up the phone and answered. “Hello? Who is this?”

“This is James Lake Junior, correct?” the voice on the other end sounded male, but wasn’t anyone either of them could place.

“That’s me,” Jim answered, keeping his voice level and detached. “Who are you?”

“My name isn’t important,” the man said. “What is, is that my employer would like to speak with you.”

“I’m going to need a bit more information than that,” Jim countered. “Who’s your employer? Why do they want to talk to me? Why should I consider talking to them?”

“I’m not at liberty to answer your first two questions,” he sounded amused, “but I can answer the third. I assume by now you’ve noticed something missing? It is rather difficult not to notice when your girlfriend’s baby brother disappears.”

Jim’s heart stopped, and he could feel Claire go completely still beside him. A snarl stretched across his face. “Where is he. What have you done.”

“Nothing just yet,” the voice was smug, and Jim’s blood began to boil. “He’s perfectly safe. Come say hi, Enrique!” he practically sang the last bit when he addressed the toddler.

“Hi, Jim,” Enrique’s voice filtered through the phone and Claire’s knees gave out as she restrained a sob. Jim kneeled next to her and pulled her close to him even as he kept listening.

“Now that we have that straightened out, we can move on to the details-”

“What do you want,” Jim growled.

“I already told you,” the man laughed. “My employer wants to speak with you.”

“And if I go talk to him, you’ll give Enrique back? Just a conversation, no strings attached?”

“I can’t promise that, but that conversation is the only way you’re even going to have a chance, kid. I suggest you take it.”

Jim took a deep breath. If this man were in front of him right now… “And what do I need to do for this conversation to happen?”

“Just get to Santa Prisca,” the man said like that was the easiest thing in the world, “and don’t call the cops.”

“Santa Prisca! That’s in the Caribbean! How do you expect me to get there!?”

The man sighed on the other end. “I was told you could take care of that yourself.”

“Well, I can’t! I don’t have those resources! I might be able to get them from the government, but I can’t exactly do that without involving the police!”

“Fine. There’s a clearing in the forest to the northeast, do you know it?”

Jim knew the forest far better than most, but even someone who’d only been out there once or twice could probably tell you about that clearing. “Yes, what about it?”

“Wait there. I’m sure my employer can figure out something for you.” Not even a second later, the line went dead.

Jim almost dropped the phone as he sagged. He leaned against Claire as she curled into his side, tears streaming. Slowly, his own tears started to flow. “We’ll get him back,” he said, “I promise.”

Claire nodded and sat up a moment later, brushing her tears away, before doing the same to his. “Together,” she said.

Jim nodded, and stood, pulling her up with him. “Together,” he echoed, as he held her close. “We’d better get moving. We don’t know how much time we have.”

Claire nodded, and not even a moment later they were out the door, racing to the clearing.

 

* * *

 

The clearing was empty when they arrived and stayed empty for several minutes. Claire and Jim stood beneath the trees at the edge while they waited, out of sight. Hopefully, if this was intended to be some kind of trap, the enemy wouldn’t be able to get the drop on them. For the most part, they waited in silence. There was a brief message from Blinky, but Jim had quickly shut down that conversation. They just didn’t have time for it.

Time passed. Other people would have been distracted, would have day dreamed. They didn’t. Which meant while they were surprised that their ride had flown to the clearing, and generally surprised by its appearance, they were far from startled. No, it was only the fact that it was a flying motorcycle that could clearly carry several people that threw them for a loop. And the fact that it was Superboy riding it.

Jim scowled at the gaudy red vehicle and strode out of the trees, Claire barely even half a step behind him. Superboy looked surprised to see them, but quickly schooled his face into something more neutral.

“I thought I was only picking up one person,” he said as he helped them up into the bike-thing.

Jim snorted. “They have my baby brother,” Claire retorted hotly. “I’m not staying behind.”

Superboy gave both of them an odd look before shrugging and turning back to the controls as he pulled the bike into the air. The small prodding pinch that signaled a mental connection pressed against the back of Jim’s skull and he saw Claire wince beside him.

 _“So, what’s your dirty little secret?”_ Wally asked, sounding highly amused by the prospect.

Jim frowned, glancing at Superboy’s back. _“I’m going to assume there’s a story to go with that, but blackmail is not the reason Claire and I are here.”_

 _"They have my baby brother,”_ Claire spat into the link.

Silence followed, the Team clearly uncomfortable with what Wally had implied when compared to the truth of the matter.

 _"Do you know who?”_ Robin eventually spoke up.

Jim shook his head before remembering that they couldn’t see him. _“No. I never got a name. All we know is that whoever did the calling and the taking is working for someone that wants to talk to me on Santa Prisca. What’s going on on your end?”_

There was another bout of uncomfortable silence. _“Let’s just say that today has been a very enlightening day.”_

 _“Coupled with the blackmail comment, I’m going to say you guys really needed to talk to each other,”_ Claire said.

 _“Do you guys at least have a plan?”_ Jim asked.

 _“Yeah,”_ Superboy answered, _“not sure how to work a hostage into it, though.”_

 _“That does present challenges,”_ Aqualad acknowledged. _“We should attempt to get Ms. Nuñez’s brother away from them before we implement the rest of the plan.”_

 _“We’re gonna have to really push it if we want to get there on time,”_ Jim didn’t recognize this voice. _“I’m Rocket by the way. Protege to Icon.”_

 _"Nice to meet you,”_ Jim replied. _“Hey, Robin, do you have any extra weapons? I’m guessing you guys are in the Bioship?”_

 _“We are,”_ Robin said. _“And, yeah, I’ve got an entire spare utility belt up here. Why?”_

_“Think you could pass over a bo staff and some escrima sticks?”_

Superboy glanced over his shoulder. Jim shrugged at him, and Superboy turned back. _“Yeah, one sec. M’gann?”_

_“We’re over the Supercycle… now.”_

Jim glanced up to see a slight distortion in the air open up above them to reveal the inside of the Bioship. Robin grinned down at him. _“Look out below,”_ he said as he dropped three items down. Jim just barely managed to catch them.

A brief inspection revealed that one was heavier and could expand from both ends while the other two were lighter and only extended from one. All of them had a small release button near the middle of the grip. Jim passed the heavier one to Claire.

 _“Plan on showing off?”_ Robin asked.

 _“Not if we can help it,”_ Claire answered.

Jim continued the thought barely even a moment later. _“These are a precaution. Ideally, we won’t fight at all.”_

 _“Should we really be arming them?”_ Superboy asked. _“I doubt you even know how to use those.”_

Claire openly glared at Superboy’s back, while Jim turned his face upwards to where the Bioship had been with a small frown, but the distortion was gone. _“You haven’t told them?”_

Claire was surprised at the wave of confusion and… embarrassment that washed over her mind.

 _“Can we not talk about that?”_ Robin asked.

 _“Robin.”_ The warning tone in Aqualad’s voice made it very clear that he did not like the idea of not being in the loop on this one.

 _“C’mon, Rob,”_ Wally teased. _“It can’t be that embarrassing.”_

Robin didn’t answer.

 _“Jim, what happened.”_ Aqualad turned his attention to the only other person he could reasonably expect to know.

Jim sighed. _“Robin, it’s relevant, and if there’s anything you should be learning from today, it’s that secrets don’t stay secret.”_

 _“Fine,”_ he relented. _“The weekend after the Red Fiasco-”_

 _“The Red Fiasco?”_ Rocket asked.

 _“Later,”_ Aqualad said, cutting off the line of questioning. _“Continue, Robin.”_

_“Batman sent me to go scare some sense into Jim, or at least try to. I was supposed to wait until he was alone and then attack. Rough him up a little bit, but only enough to scare him. I found Jim out in the woods, waited for my chance, then struck. Things didn’t go the way I expected. Or the way Batman expected.”_

Robin left it at that. Aqualad wasn’t satisfied. _“What-”_

 _"He lost,”_ Jim finished. _“The fight ended with him pinned on the ground. Claire’s at least as good as I am. Again, preferably, we won’t fight at all, but I’d rather we were armed if it comes down to it.”_ Never mind the fact that they were armed. Jim couldn’t ditch the Amulet and he knew Claire didn’t leave the house without the Shadow Staff, but at least now they had non-magical weapons.

Superboy grinned to himself. _“Cool, so we don-”_

 _“Just because I can one-v-one Robin when he’s holding back doesn’t mean I’ll be much good in a fight like this,”_ Jim interrupted, leaning back into his seat with his arms crossed. Claire placed a hand on his knee.

 _“Let’s focus on the task at hand,”_ Aqualad cut in. _“Jim, Claire, here’s the plan…”_


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note, updates are now every other Thursday instead of every other Wednesday. School's a mess and my Wednesdays are packed now, so it just wasn't going to work out.

Superboy landed in the clearing, quickly climbing down from the Supercycle while Jim and Claire hopped off the back. On the other side of the clearing stood Lex Luthor, Mercy, and Queen Bee.

“Welcome, Superboy,” Luthor said, his arms outstretched in welcome. “And, Mr. Lake, I do believe you were told to come alone.”

Jim scowled at the man, stalking closer, but not moving more than a few feet. “Your… friend said no police. He didn’t say anything about Claire. Now, where’s Enrique.”

“All in due time, Mr. Lake,” Luthor turned back to Superboy, ignoring the pair of angry teens. “Allow me to introduce you to my associate, Queen Bee.” He held out a hand, which she accepted as she stepped forward.

“My pleasure,” she smiled at the trio.

“I believe you know everyone else, Superboy,” Luthor continued as two figures stepped out of the trees behind him and others completed the circle around the clearing. Jim and Claire zeroed in on the tall blonde decked out in sports gear that was holding Enrique. “Sportsmaster, Mercy, Blockbuster, and, of course, our new friend, Bane, who’s allowed us use of his island in exchange for considerations.”

Jim ignored the strange weapons Bane’s men were carrying. He would deal with that if he ever needed to. “Give us Enrique.”

The toddler glanced up at his name. “Jim!’ he cried happily, leaning forward in Sportsmaster’s arms as he tried to get to Jim and Claire.

“Enrique!” Claire cried out. Enrique began struggling more, getting more and more distressed as he wasn’t allowed to go to them.

While they had been focused on Enrique, a helicopter had begun its decent and was landing in the clearing as well. “Let me guess,” Superboy shouted over the winds, “another one of your friends.”

Luthor chuckled softly. “No, my boy, one of yours.”

The door of the helicopter opened to reveal Artemis, with Cheshire piloting next to her. Artemis gave a gasp of surprise when she saw Superboy as she stepped out.

“Artemis,” Superboy muttered, acting equally surprised.

Jim ignored them. “Damnit, Luthor!” he shouted. “What do you want!?”

“Artemis, what are you doing here?”

“The hero thing didn’t work out,” she replied, stopping next to Sportsmaster. “You get how it is. No trust.”

Luthor chose to ignore the interaction as well. “All I want from you, Mr. Lake, is a simple confirmation. You know them, don’t you?”

Jim jerked. Why was Luthor stuck on this? “This is literally the second time I’ve seen any of them! No, I don’t know them!”

Luthor frowned. “You’re a brilliant liar, Mr. Lake, but that doesn’t change the truth.”

Suddenly, the Bioship stopped overhead and M’gann flew out and down to the ground. “It’s a fast-growing club,” Queen Bee said. Jim had missed whatever she was referring to in his exchange with Luthor.

M’gann, like the others before her, acted surprised to see her teammates. She turned to Queen Bee. “Why are they here? You promised-”

Jim was surprised at how genuinely afraid she managed to sound. Whatever Queen Bee had on her, it was big.

“I’ve kept my promise,” Queen Bee assured M’gann, looking down her nose as she cut off the Martian before she could say anything foolish. Now, keep yours.” M’gann ducked her head quietly. “Good girl.”

Claire stepped forward. “Luthor, you’ve got your answer! Jim told you the truth! Now, give us Enrique!”

Luthor smiled as the chatter around them died out. “He’s even got you fooled? You might want to consider a change in boyfriends, Ms. Nuñez, if he keeps something like that from you.”

“You’re delusional,” Jim said bluntly.

“On the contrary, Mr. Lake, I’m quite sane, even if I haven’t figured out why the League is so interested in you just yet.”

Jim itched to pull out the escrima sticks or Daylight or something, _anything_ , and just _fight_ , but he couldn’t risk them hurting Enrique. The toddler was crying and thrashing now as he struggled against Sportsmaster.

“Can’t you shut him up?” Queen Bee complained.

“Couldn’t you?” Sportsmaster shot back as he struggled with the child.

Superboy decided to take control of the situation again, while Jim and Claire kept a close eye on Sportsmaster. “Give me more shields, and I’m in, too,” he said.

Luthor walked directly up to Superboy, observing closely. “My boy,” he said, smiling, “you are a terrible liar. You should take some notes from Mr. Lake. I’m fairly certain he could get away with lying to Batman himself on a good day.”

Superboy looked shocked for a moment, then started forward ready to strike at Luthor.

“Red Sun,” Luthor said calmly.

Superboy froze, his eyes going blank. His shoulders slumped, and he took a relaxed posture as his mind seemed to shut down completely.

Just then, Enrique managed to get himself out of Sportsmaster’s arms, shrieking as he fell to the ground. He cried louder even as he scrambled clumsily to his feet and sprinted straight to Claire. Claire dropped to one knee and scooped her little brother off the ground, standing again as he buried his head in her shoulder. Claire and Jim started backing up, Jim placing himself between Claire and the others.

“Where exactly do you think you’re going?” Luthor asked them, laughter ringing in his voice. “You don’t have any way off this island without Superboy.”

The pair froze. Luthor was right. There wasn’t anywhere for them to go right now. They would have to wait for the fighting to start before they could slip off and hide. Claire began murmuring to Enrique, trying to calm him down as she bounced him on her hip.

Artemis strode forward, drawing the attention back to her. “What do you want us to do?” she asked.

Luthor nodded to Sportsmaster. Sportsmaster gestured to Artemis, M’gann, Jim, and Claire. “You four, with me. It’s going to be a bit tight with the extra body, but we’ll work things out.”

“What about Superboy?” M’gann asked, not moving from her spot.

Jim and Claire remained where they were as well. They did not want to be caught too close to the action.

“He’ll be fine,” Queen Bee assured. “He simply requires a few adjustments.”

The group began to walk towards where Sportsmaster and Cheshire were waiting for them. Luthor and Queen Bee stayed behind for a moment, watching Jim and Claire until they followed. “Don’t you wish you’d come alone, now, Mr. Lake,” Luthor said as Jim passed him. Jim only responded with a heated glare before turning his attention away. It was a matter of time now.

Luthor turned to Blockbuster as he and Queen Bee brought up the rear of the group. “Bring him along,” he ordered.

Blockbuster grunted and moved to grab Superboy, who had remained motionless. Artemis ran back towards him, readied and arrow, and fired, encasing the hulking behemoth in green foam. She pivoted back to face Sportsmaster. “Sorry, Dad,” she said, “I wanted to play you like you tried to play me, but I can’t let him mess with Superboy’s head.”

Sportsmaster rushed forward, swinging at Artemis with a javelin while Claire and Jim shuffled off to the side, trying to get out of the way. M’gann’s eyes lit up green and she lifted Artemis into the air just before Sportsmaster struck. Queen Bee flew into a tree and crumpled to the ground as Artemis righted herself in the air, supported by M’gann, and fired her explosive arrow between Sportsmaster and Cheshire. M’gann dropped her hood and Superboy seemed to come back to life.

“May not be much of a liar,” Superboy said as he walked over to Luthor and Mercy, “but I sure fooled you.”

Luthor faced Superboy with a scowl as Mercy placed herself between the two. “And I’m so proud,” he said. “I take it Miss Martian cleaned ‘Red Sun’ from your mind?”

“And confirmed Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash rescued me from Cadmus before you had time to install any other programming,” Superboy confirmed.

Jim and Claire turned and ran into the forest, looking for a place to hide while the Team handled the fight. They wouldn’t get involved if they didn’t need to. Luckily for them, Enrique had calmed down since escaping from Sportsmaster.

A loud roar echoed behind them, followed by gunshots and explosions. Enrique began crying again; though, Jim didn’t think anyone would hear him over everything else. They ran and ran, the sounds of combat fading behind them. Finally, they stopped hiding themselves in the brush. Claire started rocking Enrique again, singing soft lullabies in English and Spanish with the odd lullaby in Trollish that Jim reminded himself to ask about later.

Time passed in a crawl. Enrique finally stopped crying and drifted asleep, exhausted from the stress. Claire and Jim leaned against each other, still tense and waiting for someone to find them. The sun set, and darkness enveloped them, making it impossible for them to see farther than a few feet in any direction. Jim was tempted to turn on a flashlight but chose not to. They might see someone coming, but it was more likely to attract attention to them.

Claire sat up straighter as M’gann’s voice filled her head. _“Claire, where are you?”_

 _“Out in the jungle,”_ Claire answered. _“We’ve been hiding out.”_ She glanced over at Jim, who was alternating between watching her and scanning their surroundings. _“Why isn’t Jim connected?”_

 _“He’s harder to find,”_ M’gann replied distractedly. _“I can’t even feel him right now.”_ A moment passed. _“I think I’m right above you. Sending down some lines to pick you up.”_

Claire stood, nudging Jim to do the same. Glancing around, they saw two dark lines with clips on the end descend from somewhere above them. _“I see them,”_ Claire said as she hooked herself in one handed and Jim attached himself to the other. _“Alright, you can bring us up.”_

The two lines went taught and pulled the two up through the canopy and into the waiting Bioship. Once up, the hole in the floor sealed behind them and the two were deposited on their feet. Aqualad stood from his seat. “I am glad you are both okay,” he said. “How is Enrique?”

“Tired, but alright,” Claire said, glancing down at her little brother.

Two more seats formed in the back if the Bioship, which Jim and Claire gratefully took. Jim relaxed into his seat as he glanced around the cockpit. The entire Team was there plus one person he didn’t recognize, who he assumed was Rocket. He nodded in greeting to her. She nodded back.

Claire frowned suddenly when she realized everyone was there. “Where’s the… Supercycle, was it?”

“She’s in back,” Superboy answered as M’gann began directing the Bioship back towards the Cave.

Wally spun around in his seat. “Now that all the important stuff is out of the way,” he said grinning, “we missed you last weekend. It’s been awhile since you didn’t hang around.”

Jim winced. With everything going on- tracking down May Bates, a changeling they now assumed had betrayed her fellows, figuring out how to part billionaire Frank Sherman from his money, and trying to find a new Heartstone- Jim hadn’t felt like he should be spending his precious time just hanging out with the Team and there was nothing productive he could do from the Cave, so he had stopped by only to drop off presents and check in. “Things got… hectic last week. I just didn’t have time to stay.” He paused for a second. “And regardless, I doubt we’ve covered everything important. It really seems to me like you guys still have a mole.”

 Aqualad spoke up immediately to shut down Jim’s argument. “No one on this team-”

“They don’t have to be on the Team,” Jim retorted quickly. “Just in close proximity.”

“Which puts you firmly in the hot seat,” Robin pointed out. “We trust each other. Superboy, M’gann, and Artemis all outed themselves tonight. We know they aren’t the mole. You’re the only option left.”

Jim rolled his eyes. “I’m hardly the only option left, but I’ll choose to take that as a compliment, considering I could never pull that off.”

Robin raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment for the time being. “Can I have my bo staff and escrima sticks back?” he asked.

Jim and Claire quickly passed the borrowed weapons back. Jim suddenly froze and turned to Claire, eyes wide. “Did we ever tell Mary she didn’t need to babysit?”

“Why-”

“Yeah,” Claire answered as Jim sagged back into his seat in relief, “I texted her while we were waiting for Superboy.”

“I’m guessing no one knows you guys are here?” Artemis said.

They both nodded. “For now, anyway,” Claire said.

The Team exchanged glances. “What do you plan on saying?” said Robin.

This time Claire and Jim exchanged a look. “We’re probably going to keep things fairly quiet,” Jim answered slowly. “We don’t exactly have any actual proof.”

“But we can’t just ignore it either,” Claire finished.

Jim nodded. “We’ll need to figure out some kind of security system. Or something.”

“We could help out with that,” Wally offered.

Jim and Claire exchanged another glance. “I’m not sure how wise that is,” Jim said. “The last thing we want is to provide proof that I do have ties to the League, but at the same time…”

“If Luthor already has proof, we can’t do anything about that,” Claire continued, “and I doubt the League would ignore you guys saying someone kidnapped Enrique.”

“Which would make things even more suspicious if we didn’t take the security,” Jim finished.

Robin nodded. “We’ll talk it through with Batman,” he said, “but that’ll probably have to wait. The League is a little… occupied right now.”

Jim snorted. “Let me guess, partying it up to welcome the new members.”

“Got that right,” Rocket said.

“And Batman’s looking into something we confiscated from Cheshire earlier today,” Robin said. “If you guys want to stay with us…”

Jim and Claire shook their heads. “Keeping it on the down low,” Jim said. “We don’t want to aggravate Luthor.”

“Which means not doing anything to draw attention to our absence.”

Aqualad nodded to them, frowning. “You can take the Zeta Tubes from the Cave then.”

“Uh, don’t we need a League override to get Claire through?” Wally asked.

“I’m sure Robin can figure something out,” Zatanna said with a smile.

“Sure thing,” Robin grinned back at her. He turned to the couple again. “Just keep your heads down until we can talk to the League.”

Jim and Claire nodded, more than ready to get back to Arcadia.


	23. Chapter 23

For the first time in a while, Jim was smiling when he stepped through the Zeta Tubes. It didn’t last long though. Not with Batman pulling him aside, along with Robin and Aqualad, for a serious conversation.

As soon as they were in private, Batman immediately turned to Jim. “What happened for you on New Year’s Eve?”

Jim frowned and glanced at Robin and Kaldur before turning back to Batman. “Not much?” he said. “I just went to a party with my mom and Claire’s family because, you know, small town politics. Nothing’s happened in Arcadia since the mess on Santa Prisca.”

Batman nodded. “At 23:43 the entire League was placed under a form of mind control by a group now known as The Light.”

“Ominous,” Jim muttered to himself.

Batman ignored the comment. “The mole was also revealed to be Red Arrow, a clone replacement of the original Speedy that was programmed to infiltrate the League for this specific purpose. After the League was subdued, his programming ran out and he regained full autonomy, but we believe that he would have reported your connection to the Team and the League to The Light.”

Jim was silent for a moment. “I’m going to assume,” he finally said, “that Luthor is a member of this group, and that is how he knew about me, but we can come back to that later. How long was the League… under their control?”

“A little over twenty-four hours,” Robin answered, “and we’re missing sixteen for six Leaguers. That’s why we wanted to know if anything happened in Arcadia.”

Jim truly thought for a moment. Going over everything that had happened during that time frame. He shook his head. “No, nothing. They didn’t send any Leaguers to Arcadia. Are you positive Red Arrow has no residual programming?”

Batman nodded. “Both Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian checked him over and removed any triggers they found embedded in his mind.”

Jim nodded. “So, it’s official. Luthor knows. How much exactly, does he know?”

Batman gestured for Robin and Kaldur to take over. Jim turned to face them. “Not much,” Robin spoke up. “We never told him much about your visits or anything else. The most we ever said to him about it was that,” Robin glanced at Batman for a moment before continuing, “Batman was interested in you and was having us keep an eye on you. And that we had brought you with us while hunting down Tornado but left you in the Bioship. Everything else he would have had to get first hand.”

Jim decided to ignore the admission that Batman didn’t trust him. Batman didn’t trust anyone, except maybe Robin and a few League members. “So, he knew almost nothing, but likely reported all of it.” Never mind that the Team knew almost nothing at this point.

Kaldur nodded. “And that has put the people you care about at risk. For that we must apologize.”

Jim waved it off. “I can hardly blame you for trusting one of your closest friends, and Red would’ve found out when he joined the Team anyway. What’s done is done, and there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

Robin looked surprised. “For someone as defensive over them as you are-”

“Things happen, Robin,” Jim interrupted. “The most I can do is prepare for it.”

Robin nodded, then glanced at Kaldur. “I believe that’s everything,” Kaldur said, taking the lead. He glanced at Batman, who nodded in confirmation. “Wally has set up a gaming system in an attempt to teach M’gann and Superboy more about earth culture. Would you like to join us?”

Jim hesitated, but nodded. “Yeah, sure. I could probably use the break.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. “Still hectic?” he asked.

Jim nodded. “But I’m mostly just running myself ragged at this point. There’s nothing I can actually do, so…” And that was the truth, too. He couldn’t do anything about Bates and Strickler would be putting the plan for Sherman into place, something Jim couldn’t help with either, and Jim wasn’t on the expedition groups for a new Heartstone now that school was starting up again.

“Let’s go then,” Robin said as he led the way out of the room. “It’s never a good idea to keep a speedster waiting.”

Jim laughed, but didn’t disagree. Everyone knew that Wally had no patience whatsoever, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that he processed the world at a much faster rate than everyone else. “Do you know what games he picked out?”

Robin shook his head. “He wouldn’t say, said it was supposed to be a surprise.”

“He did say he would be bringing ‘the classics,’ if I recall correctly,” Kaldur said.

“Should be fun regardless,” Jim said with a shrug, “but I doubt it’ll be fair.”

“And why is that?” Kaldur asked him with a small frown.

Jim grinned at him. “I doubt he brought puzzle games, Kaldur. They’re going to rely on reaction time.”

“Ah.”

The three chatted and relaxed as they wandered the halls. When they arrived in the lounge, they found Wally had already started, having corralled Superboy and Zatanna into playing with some help from Artemis. The others greeted the trio happily and everyone settled in for a day of games and convoluted and long-winded explanations as they tried to explain earth culture to the resident aliens.

 

* * *

 

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Jim froze just in front of the door then turned, grinning to face Superboy and Wolf. “Just out for a walk,” he said.

Superboy did not look convinced. “You don’t go for walks. At the very least not here, alone, and in the middle of winter. You hate the snow.”

Jim rolled his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

Wolf huffed beside Superboy. “Then I guess I’m coming with you,” Superboy said. He turned to Wolf. “Stay.”

“That isn’t-” Jim cut himself off when he saw Superboy’s level stare. “Fine, c’mon.”

The pair stepped outside into the snow. It was a relatively warm day for Happy Harbor in January. Which had made it the perfect day for Jim to slip out and pay a visit to Steele now that the changeling could follow through on his promise to get Jim something valuable that even RotGuts couldn’t find. And now he had to deal with Superboy. Jim knew he wasn’t going to be able to ditch him, not when Superboy had infrared vision and super hearing.

“Have you checked in yet?” Superboy asked suddenly.

Jim glanced over at the stoic boy before going back to picking his way through the snow. “Yeah, nothing to talk about, so he just let me go after a few quick words.”

Superboy nodded and let the matter drop.

“Any more questions from last week?” Jim asked, referring to the videogames Wally had brought as he stumbled and almost face planted into the snow.

Superboy reached out to steady Jim. “No,” he answered.

Neither boy spoke again as they walked through the snowy woods into town. Just as they reached the shopping district, Superboy spoke up. “So, what do you need in town?” he asked.

Jim didn’t particularly want to answer but figured being defensive was worse than actually telling Superboy something. “I’m picking something up from Dave Steele. He owns the magic shop we found a few weeks back.”

“Why-”

“Let’s just say Arcadia’s a strange place and it’s not really League business.”

“Jim.”

Jim sighed and turned to face Superboy, pausing on the sidewalk. “Nothing in Arcadia is actually League business,” Jim said. “Batman just thinks it is.”

Superboy crossed his arms.

“And it’s not always mine to give. You’ve got your friends; I’ve got mine. They don’t even know where it is I go every weekend.”

Superboy raised his eyebrows but nodded, accepting the story. They started walking again.

The shop was empty when they arrived. “Slow day?” Jim asked Steele as a form of greeting.

“Mr. Lake,” Steele greeted him with a smile. His smile slipped slightly when he saw Superboy behind him. “And your… friend.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Jim said, waiving off the old man’s concern. A quick glance over his shoulder at Superboy followed by some rather pointed looks elsewhere and Superboy wandered off, giving the illusion of privacy.

“If you say so.”

“I do. Now, what’ve you got for me?”

Steele’s smile returned. “I think you’ll really like this.” He reached under the counter and pulled out a small clear box. The inside seemed to be filled with a liquid as the bright orange crystal floated within.

Jim’s eyes widened, and he reached out slowly to pick up the package. “Is this…”

“Yup,” Steele said proudly. “Fergulated and placed in stasis for safe transport. This ought to fix your… little problem.”

Jim hesitated, hand hovering just over the box as his eyes went cold and snapped up to the magic dealer.

“Oh, relax,” Steele said, rolling his eyes. “You lot haven’t exactly been subtle with your searching and everyone knows what _he_ did to it. And I’m serious, that much should be more than enough to fix everything for you.”

Jim nodded slowly and wrapped his fingers around the chunk of Heartstone. He could feel the energy singing from it. Steele was right. It should be enough. Jim hadn’t realized how attuned he’d become to the Heartstone’s energy, how much he felt it like trolls did. Even with it gone he hadn’t noticed that much, attributing the lack of energy to the dimmed light and the depressed air that followed the citizens of Trollmarket around. Now, feeling it for the first time since Gunmar had taken Trollmarket, it was almost overwhelming, and Jim fully understood why it was so important to them. He felt like he was safe, like he could do anything he needed to do and then some, like he had actually gotten a decent night’s rest on a regular basis instead of waking up to nightmares.

“And you don’t want anything for it?” Jim asked. A changeling that thought he owed them was not something he needed right now.

“Yeah,” Steele said. “We’re even. I give you that. You leave me alone.”

Jim smiled. “It was good doing business with you then. I’d best be on my way.”

Steele nodded and bid his own farewell as Jim collected Superboy and left.

“What is it?” Superboy asked deliberately not glancing down as Jim stashed the glowing rock in his pocket.

“Officially?” Jim said without looking over. “It’s a rock.”

“And unofficially?”

Jim hesitated. He really shouldn’t be saying this. “Hope. For some people.”

“Some?”

Jim sighed. “For you and pretty much everyone else you could ever name, it really is just a rock. A strange one yes, and this is probably the only time you’ll ever see one, but just a rock. It means nothing to you and is completely useless to you. To others… it means the world and then some.”

“Your friends?”

Jim nodded as they left the town, tromping through the woods again. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this. Just… keep it to yourself. Please.”

Superboy hesitated but nodded. “If I find anything to indicate you’re lying to me,” he warned, “I will bring it up to Batman.”

Jim nodded, “That’s only fair, but you won’t find anything.”

The pair fell silent again as they walked. When they entered the Cave again, Jim began to break off in his own direction. He was headed for the Zeta Tubes, having already checked in with Canary and spent a decent amount of time talking about the events of Santa Prisca and how everyone was reacting to it, as well as some time with various Team members. He paused and turned back to Superboy. “Hey,” he said, “thank Batman for the security for me, will you?”

Superboy nodded and went off to find something to do.

Jim sighed and left. Hopefully, Eli, Strickler, or Nomura had figured out what to do about that other than simply keep everything troll related out of their houses. Either way, he had work to do and no reason to stay here.

“Recognized. James Lake Junior, A-1-4.”


	24. Chapter 24

Jim strolled into the Forge with a grin on his face. Toby and Claire were taking the time to try and get Steve and Eli better prepared for an actual fight. They still hadn’t settled on their weapons yet, much less ones they could take with them. Today, they seemed to be taking things much more seriously than they normally did. Jim wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t going to question it. Eventually, the four noticed Jim watching from the side and came to a stop.

“Hey, Jim!” Toby waved. “Wanna join us?”

Jim shook his head. “I’ve actually got something to show you guys. Where is everyone?”

“Strickler and Nomura are topside,” Claire answered, putting the Shadow Staff away. “Nomura’s checking the security system the League installed and Strickler is organizing a bunch of changelings to deal with Sherman.”

“He said Sherman will be out of the picture by this time next week,” Eli said.

“I’m pretty sure Blinky and Aaarrrgghh are in the Heartstone organizing the search right now,” Toby finished.

“That’s great!” Jim said, his smile getting wider. “C’mon, they need to see this!” Jim was almost running from the room, he was so excited. The other teens scrambled to catch up.

“Jim, what’s this about?” Claire asked, hurrying through the market and weaving through trolls.

“You’ll see,” he called back, laughing. They ran and raced, laughing and joking as they went, Jim’s light spirit infecting everyone around him.

Blinky smiled when the five burst into the Heartstone, grins plastered on their faces as they laughed at the latest joke. “Master Jim, it is good to see you in such high spirits. What brings you here today?”

“Wingman,” Aaarrrgghh rumbled from the corner as he fist bumped Toby in greeting.

Jim just smiled wider as he pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the stone table in front of the elder of Trollmarket. Blinky gasped and gently picked up the small container, examining the stone inside.

“Where did you get this, Master Jim?”

“Dave Steele,” Jim answered, “the changeling I found while I was with the Team.”

“And he just gave it to you?”

Jim shrugged. “I fully expect him to try and cash in on it someday, but for now, yeah, he just gave it to me.”

Blinky nodded. “Well, as they say, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. I assume it is in some kind of stasis. We will have to find someplace to put the stone before we can open it.”

Jim nodded. He wasn’t sure where to put it. There weren’t a lot of places that would be big enough where it wouldn’t interfere with others.

“What about that open space near the tavern?” The group stopped and glanced at Steve. “What?” he said defensively. “It’s kinda town square-ish and probably big enough for that.”

Aaarrrgghh nodded. “Big enough.”

Blinky turned his attention back to the stone and hummed in thought. “Yes,” he said finally, “yes, I do believe you are right, Aaarrrgghh, Mr. Palchuk. That spot will do nicely.” Blinky grabbed his staff and made his way out of the Heartstone. “No time like the present!” he called over his shoulder to the group of five teens one troll following dutifully behind.

Jim was still grinning and had a bounce in his step, although he had calmed now that he’d spent some of his energy on the run to the Heartstone. Claire and Toby had figured out what was happening, of course, and were excited to see Trollmarket finally return to its former glory. Steve and Eli, on the other hand, weren’t entirely sure what was going on, still mostly being on the fringes of the group, but understood that it was important and extremely good news.

Upon arrival at the square, Blinky immediately began calling for people to clear the area. There was some grumbling, and it took a few minutes, but eventually, the entire square was cleared, and a crowd was watching from the side streets. Blinky handed the package back to Jim. “If you would care to do the honors, Master Jim?” he said.

Jim nodded with a smile, summoning his armor as he took the stone. He strode into the center of the square as he looked over the small box. There weren’t any obvious latches or seems that he could use to open it, and it seemed to be made of a thin glass, so Jim chose to take a direct route. Once he was in the center, he paused. He could make a speech, or he could just open it and let them see for themselves. Jim decided to just open it. He held the box in his hand and suddenly crushed it in his fist. The glass shattered, and the watery substance spilled across the ground. A wave of energy seeped out, filling the air with a sense of warmth, light, and safety. Jim could feel the crystal beginning to grow in his hand and quickly set it on the ground before backing away.

Cries of shock and delight filled the air as they caught sight of the Heartstone chunk for the first time. Its glow growing and expanding as the crystal itself grew larger and wider and filled the space. The stones around the square began to glow brighter and took on more vibrant colors. Finally, everything stopped. The stone settled into its new size and home. The square would be cramped, but people could still move about fairly easily, even if seeing the other side was completely impossible. The crowd had gone silent in shock, so for now, everything was still as they processed what had happened and took in the new wealth of energy that surrounded them for the first time since they had fled Trollmarket and Gunmar’s forces after Usurna betrayed them.

Two trolls pushed their way through the crowd. “Blinky!” One of them called. “The Heartstone! The infection’s retreat…” he trailed off as he finally broke through as saw the new Heartstone chunk. It wasn’t even a tenth of the size of the one he had just come from, but still extremely large, sitting in the middle of the square as if it had always been there.

The crowd turned to face the old, infected Heartstone. They couldn’t see much from so far away, but they didn’t doubt the troll for even a second. It seemed to glow brighter than it had even before Gunmar, and it looked as though it were pulsing.

A loud cry went up. Then another. And another. Hope and joy and life and relief filled Trollmarket as it hadn’t since the war began. Tears were shed, and cheers filled the air. Tonight would be a night of celebration and revelry as they called back the search and settled back into their homes.

As much as Blinky and the others wanted to stay and join in the party, they needed to actually check on the Heartstone. They struggled through the crowd with Aaarrrgghh leading the way. It took longer for them to get back to the Heartstone than it had to get to the square as the word spread and people took to the streets, some of them trying to approach Jim to thank him. They were quickly brushed aside and encouraged to enjoy themselves while the group continued their journey.

As soon as they reached the Heartstone, Blinky began circling it, observing the changes. The dark strands of infection writhed and slowly shrank and sunk deeper into the stone. It was difficult to see even up close and would be impossible to see from any real distance. Blinky hummed and hawed for a bit before turning his attention back to the group. “The healing process is traveling much faster than the infection did. I expect the Heartstone will be fully healed within a week.”

“That’s great news!” Claire said, as the other teens started cheering.

“C’mon, guys!” Steve yelled. “We should join the party!”

Jim laughed and was about to agree when he felt his phone buzz. He quickly checked it to find a text from his mom reminding him it was a school night, which meant she wanted him home by ten. It was six now, and Jim had been planning on making her something special for dinner tonight, not to mention the homework he still needed to do. “Sorry, guys,” he said as he put his phone back in his pocket. “I’ve gotta go home.”

"Aw, c’mon, man,” Toby whined. “It’s one night, you could just stay a little while.”

Jim laughed. “I’ve still got some homework to do, Tobes. I’d stay if I could.”

“Completely understandable, Master Jim,” Blinky said. “You have always managed to balance your two lives admirably. A party is far from your top priority.”

Aaarrrgghh nodded beside Blinky and patted Jim’s shoulder. “Responsible.”

“Here,” Claire said, pulling out the Shadow Staff. “I can save you a little time by giving you a lift to the top of the stairs.”

The portal opened quickly and easily. “Thanks, Clair,” Jim said before he gave her a quick kiss, said his goodbyes, and stepped through the dark swirling mass.

 

* * *

 

Jim was not fully awake when he stopped by the Cave to check in. Nope. Not even close to fully awake. Jim had expected Trollmarket to get all of their partying out of their system the first night, or maybe the second or third. He had not expected Blinky to convince them it was a good idea to have an actual festival and pick a date when he knew Jim would actually be able to stay and enjoy it. That little plan had also had the side effect of stalling the party and making it even bigger and better, which meant that the trolls of Trollmarket were absolutely more than ready to stay up all night and, as a result, keep Jim up all night as well.

Which was why Jim was stumbling around the Cave looking for someplace his paranoid brain could consider safe, so he could actually sleep. Eventually Jim found the library, a place the Team pretty much never went, and he curled up among the bookshelves. He wasn’t entirely certain why the library felt safe, but he wasn’t going to question it if it meant he could actually get some sleep.

Jim managed to sleep for quite a while before anyone found him, not that anyone could tell you how long he was there with the state he was in when he fell asleep and the fact that he was alone. It was Robin that finally found him. Suffice to say he wasn’t sure what to make of the situation, but he needed to study, and Jim wasn’t hurting anything, so he let him be and stayed as quiet as he could to avoid disturbing him.

A blur flew through the room, solidifying and jerking to a stop next to Robin’s shoulder while Robin poured over a book at one of the tables.

“Hey, Rob, wh-”

Robin slapped a hand over his friend’s mouth, glaring at him from behind his sunglasses. He then quietly pointed over to where Jim was curled up on the floor. Wally, unable to see Jim from his angle, frowned but went over to take a look anyway. He blinked in surprise for a moment, then shook his head with an amused smile and returned to Robin’s side.

“Don’t you think we should get him some blankets or a pillow or something?” Wally whispered.

“If he wanted a blanket, I’m sure he would’ve grabbed one,” Robin said turning back to his book on magical theory. “He’ll be fine.”

“Dude, he’s sleeping on the floor of the library. I don’t think he was really thinking about what he wanted other than sleep. And he was shivering. He needs a blanket.”

Robin frowned and looked up again. “He wasn’t shivering when I saw him, and it’s not that cold in here, Wally.”

“Maybe it’s not that cold in here for you,” Wally retorted. “You’re a Gothamite in a hoodie and a jacket, and we’re both used to long stakeouts on cold nights. He’s from southern California.”

“It’s seventy-four degrees in here, Wally. If he was shivering, it wasn’t because he’s cold.” Robin stood and walked over to Jim to check on him personally.

Wally wasn’t completely wrong, but he wasn’t right either. Jim wasn’t shivering, but he was jerking and twitching in his sleep. His face would twitch and twist every once in a while, in pain or fear. “That’s not cold, Kid Idiot,” Robin hissed. “He’s having a nightmare.”

Wally watched for a moment longer before nodding in agreement. “I still say he could use a blanket and a pillow.” Then he was gone.

Robin shook his head but decided to let Wally do what he wanted. Either Jim would sleep through it and he wouldn’t mind, or Wally was going to learn not to mess with Jim. He went and settled down with his book again, keeping half an ear open for the speedster’s return.

A minute later, a blur and gust of wind blew past Robin and stopped just beyond the end of the bookshelves. He hesitated for the barest of moments, before moving quietly between the shelves. He stalked forward and, once he reached the end where Jim slept fitfully, slowly placed the pile of blankets and pillows he’d managed to nick on the ground. Robin was mildly amused as he slipped over to watch. Wally was moving like he was approaching a scared, injured animal… or a scared, injured kid, which probably wasn’t actually that far from the truth. But it was a sleeping kid… that might wake up if he was too loud.

Wally gently picked up the first blanket and draped it over Jim. Jim twitched slightly and then wrapped his hand around it, drawing the soft material tighter around him. Wally’s lips turned up slightly at the first sign of acceptance and turned around to give Robin a thumbs up, only to find Robin videotaping it on his phone. Robin got flipped off instead.

Wally glanced at his pile, debating for a second before he picked up a pillow. This was going to be delicate. He eased himself forward, reaching out to lift Jim’s head so he could put the pillow under it. The second Wally’s hand touched Jim, things went wrong. Jim lurched up, hand snapping to Wally’s wrist as his eyes flew open and his body moved fluidly, twisting Wally’s wrist while Jim’s other hand flew forward and slammed into the speedster’s jaw.

“Holy-” Robin yelped as he quickly set his phone on the shelf next to him and hurried forward.

Jim was still moving, holding Wally’s wrist in an iron grip. He drove his knee up into Wally’s stomach, then used the same leg to hook around Wally’s and knock the other teen to the ground, knee pinning his ribcage.

“Jim!” Robin cried out, stopping just outside of reach. “Jim, it’s alright. You’re safe. It’s just Wally being an idiot.”

Wally coughed and hacked, getting his breath back quickly. “You let me,” he wheezed.

Jim blinked, free hand pulled back for another blow. He glanced around slowly before muttering something that sounded like “too short” to himself. He looked closer at Wally for a moment, then glanced up at Robin, blinked again, looking extremely tired, and then suddenly jerked away, releasing Wally while his eyes widened in surprise. “Sorry,” he grumbled as he ran a hand down his face and looked around some more. “Where did the blankets come from?”

“KF’s bright idea,” Robin answered, not moving yet. “He decided you might want one. Was trying to give you a pillow when you woke up.”

Jim glanced back down at Wally, who was now leaning against one of the bookcases and rubbing at his wrist.

Wally paused for a moment, noticing Jim watching him. “You’ve got quite the grip,” the speedster said a nervous smile working its way across his face.

Jim took a moment to process the statement before turning away again with a muttered, “Right.” He looked up at Robin again, who looked like he was worried Jim might start attacking again at any moment. “I should probably, uh… go… somewhere,” spoke as he began edging forward.

Robin relaxed and stepped to the side, allowing Jim to slide past him. Jim then scurried out of sight and left the library, still looking half asleep while he tripped and stumbled up the stairs.

“So…” Wally said as he finally stood, ignoring the bruise on his wrist and the way his stomach ached. “That happened.”

Robin only nodded in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brain feels like 74 degrees is a little high, in all honesty. But, A) that's kinda the point, and B) google says room temp averages in at 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
> 
> *coughs* anyway, Jim really needs to sleep before he does something stupid...
> 
> See ya'll next time!  
> NoS


	25. Chapter 25

Jim yawned as he stumbled around the Cave again. This time he was looking for a League member, so he could report in and get out of here. After what had happened in the library, he didn’t think it was the best idea to crash here anymore. He needed to go home and get real sleep. And preferably not almost beat up a friend because they woke him up in the middle of a nightmare about Angor Rot. That wasn’t something anyone wanted or needed.

Jim perked up slightly as he heard voices up ahead. He wasn’t sure who it was just yet, but they could probably point him in the right direction. Or take his report, which would be better. He followed the voices. As he got closer he began to piece together more and more details. They were both male. They were talking. It was rather formal. Jim thought one of them was the other’s superior or something.

Jim finally rounded the last corner and stepped into the mission room. It was empty except for Batman and Kaldur.

“Are you sure you have found nothing about this person?” Kaldur asked.

“It’s been three months,” Batman answered. “Robin and I have searched our entire database, questioned every League member, informant, and contact we have. There’s nothing. They might as well not exist.”

“Hey,” Jim greeted even as his eyes drooped. “What’s up?”

Batman gave Kaldur a nod of dismissal and turned his attention to Jim. “How are you?” he asked as he looked over the very obviously sleep deprived teen.

Jim grinned. “Never better.”

Batman didn’t answer for a moment, hoping Jim would correct his exceedingly obvious lie. Jim didn’t even notice. “Did you sleep at all last night?”

Jim shook his head. “Last night? No. Would you believe me if I said it was a lock in?”

Batman just stared at the teen. This time, Jim did notice.

“Didn’t think so,” he said as his shoulders slumped for a moment in disappointment. He perked up again a moment later. “It was a party, though.”

“What kind of party?”

“The all-night kind.” The teen was grinning again.

Batman just sighed and gave up on the train of questioning. “Has anything _else_ happened in Arcadia since last week?”

Jim actually stopped to think for a second. What had happened? The Heartstone. The party for him because of the Heartstone. But he wasn’t supposed to talk about that. Finally, he shrugged. “Nothin’ much.”

Batman nodded and carefully placed a hand gently on Jim’s shoulder, noting how Jim flinched under the contact. “Let’s find you somewhere to sleep,” he said, trying to push Jim towards the room he’d borrowed after the trip to Russia.

Jim shook his head and brushed off the hand. “I’m gonna go home to sleep.”

Batman glanced at Jim. He honestly wasn’t sure it was the best idea to let him walk home alone right now. “At least let me get someone to walk you home.”

Jim giggled slightly. “Such a gentleman, walking me home after a long night.”

Batman just sighed. “Wait here.”

“Crispy. I’ll just be here. Waiting.”

Jim plopped himself down on the floor and sat there, waiting. Batman stared for a moment, but just shook his head and left, quickly finding Aqualad and telling the teen to change into civvies and make sure Jim actually made it home in one piece. Kaldur, of course, agreed and made his way to the mission room after a quick change only to find Jim staring blankly at the ceiling. He paused staring down at the younger teen.

“What are you doing?”

“Waiting.”

“Batman told me I’m supposed to take you home.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Jim said. He didn’t move.

“You are going to need to get up.”

Jim groaned. “But that takes work.”

“Would you rather stay here.”

Jim thought for a second. “Fine,” he huffed, pulling himself to his feet. “Let’s go.”

Kaldur gently guided Jim to the Zeta Tubes and pulled him through. The walk itself was fairly quiet with only a little small talk as Kaldur tried to keep Jim awake and on his feet. It took longer than expected to get to the Lake house, but they did get there without incident. Kaldur then turned Jim over to the care of his mother, exchanged a few pleasantries, and returned promptly to the Cave.

 

* * *

 

With the exception of the introduction of Garfield Logan and the economic chaos that surrounded the fall of Frank Sherman, the weeks following the delivery of the Heartstone chunk were quiet. Strickler and Nomura hadn’t quite managed to track down May Bates just yet, but said they were closing in. Unfortunately, several goblins had managed to slip out of Trollmarket as well, likely looking for the guards and scientists from the Order of Merlin’s Cincinnati facility.

Jim smiled to himself and closed his eyes, enjoying the cool night air against his face as he rode his bike through the empty streets. Things were finally falling back into place. All they had to do was take care of Bats and make sure they kept their heads down long enough for everything to blow over and it would, well, it would blow over. Claire wasn’t possessed, Nomura was back and had more than enough experience with trauma to handle herself, the Heartstone was going to be fine, and without funding the Order of Merlin was simply going to collapse. Jim just had to wait out Batman. Which was probably going to take until he was thirty, but oh well.

Jim allowed himself a laugh. Even with the Team and the League, he was once again finding his balance in this messed up world that seemed to like screwing with his life specifically. Every time he thought he had things under control or thought he knew what was going on, it threw another curveball at him. Maybe this time things would stick.

Jim’s bike jerked and tipped sideways as the front wheel jammed. Jim grunted and rolled with the fall, pulling himself back to his feet once he came to a stop. He turned his attention to his bike, to figure out what had happened, eyes going wide when he saw the arrow shaft sticking out of the front wheel’s spokes. Glancing around, Jim hurried over to his bike, yanking the offending material from its place and inspecting the damage.

A hand latched onto his upper arm and pulled him back. Jim spun with the pull, fist rising and colliding with the black masked figure’s face. The figure responded by punching Jim in the stomach, quickly knocking the wind out of him. Jim doubled over and struggled to think as he felt himself spin around again, an arm wrapped itself around his throat, tight enough to restrain and, if given enough time, knock him out, and Jim’s legs were knocked out from under him. Jim released a strangled cry as he thrashed harder and drove his elbow into the figure’s abdomen. He couldn’t do much else from his position on the ground.

A second figure approached from Jim’s front. Jim lashed out at them with his legs, but they dodged without even a thought and leaned over the struggling teen. The second figure pulled Jim’s trapped arm out straight and Jim felt a small prick on the inside of his arm. Jim knew it was probably a sedative and thrashed harder. Giving up on the one holding him, Jim reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Before he could do anything with it, though, the second figure pulled it away from him and tossed it to the side.

Jim’s vision went blurry and he snarled in the general direction he thought the second figure was as his limbs became heavy and went limp. He thought he heard a small laugh in response, but it was like trying to hear through water. Finally, he felt his eyes slide closed and lost himself to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Jim couldn’t suppress the groan he made when he woke. Everything hurt and felt strangely fuzzy. Pins and needles mixed with a sledge hammer. The worst was his head. That felt like a construction crew was pounding on his skull while his brain had been replaced with cotton. His mouth was dry as sandpaper and tasted as bad as his mom’s cooking.

Jim blinked, glancing around the unfamiliar area. He tried to get up and explore, only to find he couldn’t move. His hands and feet were bound together with coarse rope, while more of the abrasive material wrapped around his torso, leaving him stuck in the chair with no way of getting out. Jim yanked on his wrists and hissed as the rope dug even further into his skin. With how tight they’d tied those ropes, Jim wouldn’t be surprised if he lost all circulation to his hands.

“Now, now,” came the all too familiar smooth voice from behind Jim, “don’t struggle so much. We don’t want you to hurt yourself now, do we?”

Jim jerked up and twisted in his chair as much as he could, trying to get a look at the man. “Luthor! Where are you!? What do you want!?”

The point of a blade pressed against the base of his skull. “Sit still,” a cold voice commanded. This one was female. Jim stilled instantly. “That’s better.”

Jim swallowed nervously. This wasn’t a fight he could afford to have. “What do you want?” he asked again. Quieter this time, with a slight quiver of desperation in his voice.

The blade point removed was removed and footsteps moved. A masked woman dressed in a green outfit stepped into view, a sai in her hand. Jim recognized her from Santa Prisca and scowled. “We just want to talk,” she said.

“That’s what you always say,” Jim retorted. “It never actually turns out that way.”

“This time will be different,” Luthor said from wherever he was behind Jim, “now that we’re all on the same page. I assume you’ve been informed of our little mole.”

Jim nodded slightly, assuming Luthor could see him.

“Good. Then you know it’s pointless to lie to me. Let’s start from the beginning. Do you have contact with the Justice League?”

“Yes.”

“And the little heroes?”

“Yes.”

“Very good,” Luthor purred. “Now, let’s move on to the more interesting parts. This fine young woman is Cheshire. I’m sure you remember her from Santa Prisca. I am going to ask you questions and you are going to answer. If you hesitate, or if either of us thinks you’re lying, she is going to hurt you. Is that clear?’

Cheshire waved cheerfully, and Jim nodded.

“I’m going to need verbal confirmations from here on out, Mr. Lake. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Cheshire lunged forward, slicing across Jim’s cheek.

Jim hissed, but otherwise didn’t react.

“Now you understand,” Cheshire said as she stepped back again. “And that is only the warning.”

“When did you first make contact with the League?” Luthor asked.

“Um, August.”

“What happened?”

“I came home one day, and Batman was waiting there to talk to me. He thought I knew something.”

“About what?”

Jim needed to get them off this topic. “Something that had happened months ago, I don’t know. Why do you care?”

Cheshire plunged her sai into Jim’s arm.

“I ask,” Luthor said simply. “You answer. What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Jim said as panic crept into his voice. “The museum collapsed, and I was found in the rubble. Batman seemed to think it was important.”

Jim heard Luthor shift his weight behind him. It sounded like he was sitting in a chair. “Why were you in the rubble.”

“I don’t know!”

Cheshire stabbed Jim’s leg. Jim hissed and tried to jerk away.

“Seriously! I don’t! I don’t remember!”

“You don’t remember?”

“No! Retrograde amnesia from the concussion!”

Luthor shifted again. Leaning back? “How often have you made contact since then?”

“At least once a week.”

“Why is Batman still so interested?”

“I don’t know. He’s paranoid. Probably thinks I’m involved with some plot that doesn’t exist.”

“Hm. If you aren’t anything special, then I guess you can help me some other way.”

Jim remained silent. He wasn’t going to give the creep ideas.

“The sidekicks,” Luthor said after a moment, “what are their names?”

“Robin, Kid Flash, Aqua-”

Cheshire dragged her sai along his shoulder, tearing Jim’s flesh along the way.

“Their real names,” Luthor clarified.

“I don’t know,” Jim ground out, eyes squeezed shut.

Cheshire made another cut, just under Jim’s eye.

“Of course you don’t,” Luthor said, amused. “It’s not likely you weren’t with them once a week for several months.”

“Why don’t y-” Jim cut himself off when he felt Cheshire’s sai against his throat.

“Because that was too far from his original programming. We would have lost him completely if we tried that. What are the brat’s names.”

“I don’t-”

Cheshire drove her sai into Jim’s stomach. Jim coughed, blood seeping from the wound, and pain flooding his system.

“Even if I did, I’m not telling you.”

“Fine. I suppose you’re disposable then.”

“One thing?”

Cheshire glanced over Jim’s head. Luthor sighed. “Out with it.”

“At least send my body back, let my mom actually mourn me. I don’t want to just disappear on her like my dad did.”

“Why should I do that?”

Jim shrugged as much as he could. “Common courtesy? A dying man’s last wish? It’s not like I’m going to be saying much.”

There was a long pause. “I think that can be arranged,” Luthor said. Jim heard him shift again. He was pretty sure Luthor stood up. “Knock him out.”

Jim’s eyes widened for a second before Cheshire hit him hard on the head. His body went limp, but he wasn’t completely out just yet. His vision was blurry again and his head rang with pain. “We’ll leave your life in their hands,” Jim heard Luthor say as he drifted once more out of consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jim is completely willing to take his secrets to the grave with him. Not that his friends and family know or would approve, but they also haven't seen him in a position where he has to choose between his own life and keeping secrets.
> 
> Also, all questions about Luthor are now fair game 'cause we won't be seeing him anymore.


	26. Chapter 26

Jim went in and out several times. He knew he’d been dropped roughly on something hard before he heard tires squealing and yelling around him. Then there were so many voices yelling to each other, and he was moving somehow. He had felt someone grab his hand. The third time he managed to open his eyes. He was in a dark hospital room with the sun just beginning to rise through the window. Batman had been standing in the corner, watching him. Jim mumbled something like a greeting or an accusation of stalking, he wasn’t sure which. Batman had nodded and left as Jim fell back asleep.

The next time Jim woke, it seemed he was there to stay. He was tired, of course, but he didn’t feel the pull to sleep again immediately. It was probably around midday, judging by the angle of the sun through the window and the bustle of noise outside his room. Jim took a quick inventory. Everything felt slightly numb while his stomach, shoulder, leg, and head were covered in gauze and other bandages. He fumbled with his good hand and managed to find the call button, pressing it. Jim glanced around again, ignoring the beeping monitors and the countless wires connected to them. It was just a plain hospital room.

A team of doctors and nurses bustled in, checking Jim over and asking a flurry of questions. What hurt? How much did it hurt? What did he remember? What was his name? How old was he? What day of the week was it? Did he know who had attacked him? Who had dropped him off at the hospital? Jim answered everyone, skirting around the issue of what had actually happened. He didn’t want to piss off Luthor when he very clearly had let Jim live.

Once they were done, Jim felt the exhaustion pressing in, but forced himself to stay awake once he heard he had guests waiting to see him.

It didn’t take him even a second to recognize Robin in his civvies. He attempted a nod but winced at the slight throb of pain that caused. They both waited until the last of the hospital staff left the room before Robin gently closed the door and went to sit next to Jim’s bed. “What happened?” he asked.

“Luthor,” Jim said. “Cheshire. I don’t know who the people dressed in black were.”

Robin nodded. “Give me a run down.”

Jim explained as quickly and bluntly as he could. Robin frowned slightly when he was done and thought for a moment. “Did you tell the doctors?”

“No. Luthor could have, probably should have, killed me. Instead he let me go. As much as I would like to see him behind bars, I would rather not piss him off.”

Robin nodded. “Batman’s putting his foot down, by the way. You’re getting actual training, and I think he’s putting together some kind of utility belt for you, too.”

Jim shook his head. “I doubt they’ll come back this time. Luthor seemed pretty convinced I was useless to him.”

Robin snorted. “I’ll say. You almost didn’t make it. That toxin they gave you is really hard to combat.”

"Toxin?”

Robin nodded. “Yeah, we’re pretty sure they gave it to you after they knocked you out. They may have given you a fighting chance, but I doubt they expected you to actually survive.”

Jim yawned. “Lucky me.”

“That’s the point.” Robin sat forward in his seat, arms resting on his knees. “We don’t want to make you rely on luck. If they do come back, you need to be ready.”

The door opened, putting a stop to their conversation. Barbara strode through, completely ignoring Robin, and made a beeline for Jim. Robin stood and closed the door again before returning to his seat.

“Jim, sweetie, are you alright?” she asked as she carefully wrapped him in a hug.

“I’m fine, Mom,” Jim said as he hugged her back. His arms were still numb, and he could only really use one of them, but he still hugged her.

“For now,” Robin muttered off to the side.

Barbara turned her attention to Robin. “Who are you?” she asked coldly. “What do you want?”

Robin raised his hands to placate her. “I’m Robin. I’m just here to check in on Jim.” Barbara relaxed, and Robin put his hands back down. “I’m also here to inform him that Batman wants to put him in training. Given what just happened, it’s the best way to make sure Jim’s safe.”

Barbara hesitated and glanced at Jim. He very clearly didn’t want to do this, and she could understand why. It got him more involved and meant he would be showing them what he did know. It would be another weak point in his story, another gap he had to cover. She turned back to Robin, placing a hand on Jim’s shoulder. “We’ll talk about it. For now, I think you should go report to Batman.”

Robin nodded and stood. Just before he opened the door, he paused and turned back. “This will count as your check in, obviously, but Batman’s going to want an answer the next time we see you.”

Jim nodded again, yawning, and Robin left.

“Jim?” Barbara said, pulling his attention back to her. “Get some rest for now, we’ll talk about this once you get out of here and we can go back to Trollmarket.”

Jim nodded and let himself sink back into the pillows. He felt his mom run her hand through his hair and place a small kiss on his forehead. “I’m glad you’re alright,” she whispered.

Jim mumbled something back to her and fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

“So, what do we do?”

Jim glanced up from the stone table he’d flopped over. Blinky had taken to pacing the room while Aaarrrgghh watched concerned from the corner. Toby and Claire were sitting on either side of Jim, while Barbara, Strickler, and Nomura sat opposite them and NotEnrique watched from his perch above them on the bookshelves. They had chosen Blinky’s library in an attempt to avoid interruptions from people looking for help from either Jim or Blinky.

“You cannot allow them to know how much you’ve trained,” Blinky continued musing to himself, “but you also say you cannot turn this training down.”

Jim nodded. “Batman’s pretty much decided I need training at this point. And it might be a little too late to keep them from noticing I have training.”

Blinky stopped and turned to face Jim. “What does that mean, Master Jim?”

Strickler rolled his eyes. “The forest, Blinky. Jim won a fight there against Robin several months ago.”

Jim nodded, but winced a moment later. “That’s not the only time,” he said slowly. “After the party a few weeks back, I was a bit sleep deprived and fell asleep in their library. And had a nightmare. Which they woke me up from.”

Everyone winced slightly, a small hiss off sympathy and concern coming from a few people.

“I don’t get it,” NotEnrique piped up.

Jim winced again. “My nightmares tend to be rather violent, and, as a result, I tend to react accordingly if someone wakes me up during one. Kid Flash was on the ground before I even realized where I was.”

Nomura whistled. “You got a speedster on the ground?”

“I put that down to surprise and the fact that he didn’t want to hurt me. Again.”

Strickler smirked at him. “How sure are you?”

Jim gave him a flat look. “He could have broken out of my grip easily with his speed, but that would have broken my fingers. The only reason I managed to get my hand on him in the first place was because he didn’t expect me to wake up, much less start wailing on him the moment I did.”

“Back to the point,” Barbara cut in. “I get that this doesn’t make it any easier to hide, but I can’t help but think this will be a good thing.”

“Why on earth would this be a good thing!?” Blinky cried.

“Know thy enemy,” said Strickler.

“New strategies and techniques that trolls won’t expect,” Nomura continued.

Barbara raised an eyebrow at the pair. “That’s true, but not what I was thinking of. Blinky, Jim might know how to handle trolls and goblins and everything else just fine and you’ve done a wonderful job teaching him that and how to utilize the stones, but trolls can’t teach Jim to fight things that aren’t trolls. They can’t teach someone how to deal with super powered individuals, or long-range fighters, because trolls don’t have any of that. The Justice League does. Even if Jim never needs it, I’d rather he have this training just in case.”

The room went silent for a moment. “Good reason,” Aaarrrgghh finally spoke up.

Blinky sighed and nodded. “As much as I hate to admit it, Barbara is completely correct. We cannot teach Jim those things, and he may very well need them if things don’t go the way we want them to.”

“Okay, so I get the training,” Jim said. “Is that agreed?”

Everyone voiced their agreement.

“Dude, you’ve gotta teach us what you learn,” Toby said, nudging Jim with his elbow.

Claire nodded next to him. “It’ll be important for all of us.”

Jim laughed softly, “It’s probably going to be a little while before we get to anything useful. They’ll start at the basics, and even that will have to wait until my wounds heal a bit more.”

Barbara nodded, pinning Jim with a stern gaze. “We’re lucky most of the wounds were superficial and the one on your abdomen missed all the major organs, but if you pull your stitches, so help me, I will keep you in the house until you’re healed to my standards.”

“Not to worry, Dr. Lake,” Blinky said as he strode forward. “I have some very light weeks planned for Master Jim.”

“More history?” Jim asked as he suppressed a groan.

Blinky smiled slightly. “Well, yes. But we will be focusing on expanding your vocabulary in Trollish as well. And we will be going over the stones you have not had a chance to practice with yet and what they can do. Some of the simpler ones we may practice with, but for the most part, we will focus on the theory.”

Jim perked up slightly at that. History wasn’t all that great, but it was usually more interesting than he let on. Trollish, meanwhile, made him feel closer to the people he was protecting, and he always liked learning more about the various stones previous Trollhunters had collected and how they had been used.

“Before you get started on your newest training regiment,” Strickler interrupted, “we’ve found Bates.” Every head turned towards him. “At least, we’re fairly certain we know where she’s going to be.”

“She’d holed up in one of the idiots’ old safe houses, but now, without money or any other resources, they can’t take care of her and she’s returned to using Janus Order supplies,” Nomura spoke up.

Jim nodded firmly, “When are you going to move in? I’m-”

“No, you’re not,” Barbara cut him off with a stern glare. “You need to heal, and they aren’t going to wait.”

“Quite right,” Strickler agreed. “We need to move quickly, and you need your rest. You are no good if you’re constantly tearing open old wounds, Young Atlas.” He snorted slightly. “Your arm is still in a sling for goodness sake, you won’t be fighting any time soon.”

“Trust us, Little Gynt,” Nomura continued. “This isn’t your kind of mission anyway. And we’ll be bringing her back here, you can talk to her then.”

Jim sighed and nodded, gently flopping back onto the table.

“Sit up, Master Jim,” Blinky said with a smile, “we’d best get started on your lessons.”

Jim grumbled quietly to himself and sat up as Blinky grabbed a book off the shelves and dropped it in front of Jim with a thump. The troll elder rattled off page numbers and paused as Jim flipped the book open with his good hand. Once he was sure Jim was on the right page, he began his lecture.

 

* * *

 

Jim was scowling when he saw Batman waiting for him on the other side of the Zeta Tubes.  Batman gestured for Jim to follow and led the way out of the room. They stopped at the kitchen, where Batman took a seat and told Jim to do the same. Canary was waiting there for them.

“How are you?” Canary asked as Jim gratefully took a seat. He might be able to walk around, but he was taking his mom’s orders to rest seriously.

Jim shrugged. “I’m doing alright. Got the stitches on my arm out the other day. My shoulder and abdomen are still healing, though.”

“You and your mom have talked about the training?”

Jim turned his attention back to Batman. “Yeah, training is a go once I’m cleared for strenuous activity with the doctors, but I won’t be going on any missions. I’m not a member of the Team.”

“Agreed,” Batman said. “Canary will be responsible for you training.”

“For now,” Canary took over, “you will be observing the Team’s training sessions. We might work a little on your stance, but we won’t start actual training until you’re cleared. I would like to integrate your training with the Team’s as well.”

“Makes things easier for you,” Jim teased.

“True, you’re not the only beginner I’ll be working with. Garfield is starting to learn. And this will help the Team learn as well.”

Jim nodded. “One of the best ways to study is to help someone else.”

“Precisely.”

“Have you heard anything about Luthor since last week?”

Jim turned his attention back to Batman once again and shook his head. “No. Things have gone quiet again. I really don’t think he’ll come back.”

Batman nodded. “Keep your eyes open all the same. He may send others in as well.”

“Fine. I’ll pay attention. Like I wasn’t already doing that.”

“Jim-”

“It’s been seven months, Batman. Things have only gotten worse since you got involved in my life. Whatever happened in June is long since over, but now I have to worry about your enemies. I didn’t sign up for this.”

“I’m sorry, Jim,” Canary cut off whatever Batman would have said, Shooting the man a look that clearly told him to shut up and let her handle this. Batman, much to his credit, did just that. “We never intended for you to get involved. We certainly weren’t expecting them to even notice you, much less for them to have a spy.”

Jim sighed, and took a moment to steady himself. “I know. I know it’s not really your fault, but…” Jim shook his head and cut himself off. He didn’t know how to finish that sentence, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to.

“I understand. Unfortunately, things happened. All we can do now is make sure you have the tools you need to protect yourself.”

Jim nodded again and turned back to Batman. “Are we done here, or…?” To his surprise, it was Canary that answered.

An amused smile crossed he face. “Training starts in five,” she said.

Jim nodded and stood. “I’ll see you there.” He turned and made his way to the mission room where Canary always trained the Team. As he walked a thought suddenly struck him. He couldn’t be sure if Batman was still watching him at all, but training would mean he wasn’t getting away from the League for a long time yet.


	27. Chapter 27

Weeks passed, and Jim learned. The first few weeks were spent simply watching and talking about the strategy and techniques with Canary afterwards. Then they got into his stance and form. Once he was cleared for strenuous activity, they moved into practical demonstrations and sparring. Most of the time, Jim sparred with Gar (Garfield’s new nickname) in the beginning, up until Jim got in the swing of things and started progressing faster. Of course, Jim had the advantage of already knowing a lot of basic techniques and principles from other fighting styles that he could transfer over.

As the boys got more advanced, Canary spent less time with them and began switching back and forth, breaking the Team into groups. When they weren’t studying under Canary they were getting lessons from Team members. Most of the time that meant learning how to approach a fight against someone with their abilities, but sometimes it meant going over forms or just focusing on sparring or taking a day for multiple opponents.

During that time, the changelings of Arcadia and Trollmarket apprehended May Bates. After much debate and some interrogation, it was decided that she would be left to face changeling law. Not that there was much law, but they still had their code of conduct. Jim passed the message on to Steele and word spread throughout the changeling underground. They met on neutral ground, held their trial, and sentenced her to death for treason.

Then they sat back and watched the Order of Incompetent Idiots fall to pieces and begin squabbling among themselves. Most of the low-ranking members just shuffled off and found new jobs. Those that had invested themselves and bought into the message found themselves in a death spiral of debt and frustration. Jim didn’t exactly like it, knowing he was responsible for their failed lives, but knew it was this or leave them a threat to trolls for who knows how long. The amount of damage they could do with their convictions and resources was far too high to take that risk, so he accepted it and moved on.

All in all, things had really quieted down right up until Jim almost lost his head to a warhammer when he stepped out of the Zeta Tubes for training one day in early May. Jim barely had time to duck and roll out of the way, the large stone hammer slamming into the Zeta Tube, damaging it and shutting it down. The room was darker than it should have been, but it allowed Jim an advantage. He could see the bioluminescent markings on his enemy, marking them a member of the Krubera.

Jim scowled and lurched sideways again, dancing out of reach as he plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out the Amulet. “For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is Mine to Command!” he yelled. To hell with subtlety. Bright blue light lit the darkness as Jim’s armor encased him piece by piece. The Sword of Daylight materialized in his hand as he lunged forward with a cry and slashed across the Krubera’s chest. The Krubera, startled, was too slow to defend himself. The blow proved fatal as the troll quickly turned to stone.

Jim quickly surveyed his surroundings. The mission room was empty and dark, the faint glow of emergency lights and his armor just barely managing to light the space. Jim surveyed the Zeta Tubes. They were both damaged and likely wouldn’t work. The lights went out and a series of thuds and clanks filled the air. The backup generator had gone out, throwing the Cave into a full lockdown. Which meant there were more Krubera somewhere.

Jim frowned and placed his sword on his back as he started running, picking a direction at random. The Team should have been here, defending their base and home. If they weren’t… Jim chose not to think about that right now. He couldn’t afford the distraction. Jim stopped and checked every room and checked his corners carefully before continuing with each step he took. He moved quickly but did his best to keep the clank of his armor to a minimum. It was bad enough he was a glowing target, he didn’t need to be a loud one, too.

Finally, Jim came across a pair of Krubera smashing their way through the Cave. The tore through walls and doors without regard and never paused to look at the things they were breaking. They didn’t care. Jim leapt forward and quickly dispatched of the first, while the second managed to clip Jim across the side. Jim spun, but his armor absorbed most of the blow. He ducked beneath another swing of the hammer and darted in close, dealing a final blow.

Three down, Deya knew how ever many left.

Jim continued his search. He came across multiple parties like the pair he had crossed paths with, all doing exactly the same: destroying without a thought or care. Their sole goal was to cause as much damage as possible. He looked more closely when he passed through the boiler room and the hanger bay and anywhere else that contained important machinery. There was almost nothing left of those machines. The generators, boilers, computers, the other Zetas, anything necessary to keep the Cave actually running, it was all little more than piles of rubble.

“I think we could take him.”

Jim froze for a fraction of a second before crouching low and sneaking quietly towards the unfamiliar voice.

“Oh, we could,” said a second voice. “We just did.”

A muffled yell and growl. Laughter followed.

Jim poked his head around the corner, peeking into the souvenir room. Three Krubera stood around a stasis trap with their backs to the door. Jim couldn’t see who was in it, only the bright yellow beams that indicated it was active. A faint green glow filled the room, giving the three a more sinister look.

“Aw, he thinks he can threaten us,” a third voice teased, laughing again.

“Leave him be,” the second spoke again. “We have work to do. We can play with him later if he’s still alive.”

“C’mon,” the first begged. “I’m sure the others have it handled. Just let us rough him up a little bit first. We can always put him back.”

Jim couldn’t take this anymore. He slipped into the room and summoned his sword, plunging it into the back of the first, turning him almost instantly to stone. The other two roared and rushed him.

Jim leapt over the first blow, only to be caught by the second and launched into the wall on the other side of the stasis trap.

“Be careful!” the second growled.

Jim glanced over quickly to see Superboy frozen in place, bruises littering his skin, while one side of his face started to swell. A slight glance at his feet confirmed his suspicion. A chunk of kryptonite the size of a golf ball rested at Superboy’s feet.

“You won’t get away with this,” Jim snarled at the pair as he leapt back to his feet and dodged another pair of blows.

“So you say,” the third snarled back. Jim deflected another strike.

Jim released a guttural cry as he got within the third’s guard and slashed upwards. The third lurched backwards and sideways just enough that Jim didn’t strike a fatal blow, but merely severed an arm instead. Jim swung back down quickly, finishing the fight. Moments later, Jim was launched again, his breath flying from his lungs as his back began to bruise.

Jim groaned and pulled himself back to his feet. One small glance between the remaining Krubera and Superboy, and Jim was out the door, Krubera hot on his heels. Jim kept ahead while the Krubera followed, just out of reach. Jim darted through the maze of halls and doors, eventually taking a sudden turn and ducking into a room off to the side. The Krubera barreled past.

Jim released a breath, before pushing forward again. He slid out of the room, coming up behind the Krubera soldier and striking. Another down. That made eighteen now. He wasn’t sure how many were left, but he needed to find the Team and clear this place fast. He could only last so long without backup.

Jim kept moving, checking each room and hall he past. Another six fell in small skirmishes, landing another two blows. Jim was fairly certain his ribs were bruised at this point but couldn’t afford to truly rest.

The Cave felt far bigger than Jim remembered, now that he was actively searching it from top to bottom. He wasn’t sure how much time was passing, but he was sure it was too long.

Jim rounded another corner. Just as he stepped around it, he saw them. There were- five? No, six Krubera staring at him, all standing around the infuriatingly familiar figure of Queen Usurna. For a second, no one moved, surprised to see the others there. Then, Usurna broke the silence with a cry of “Get him!”

Jim turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. He couldn’t fight all of them at once. Not like this. He was sure his metal feet left scrapes and scratches as he skid around corners and scrambled to keep his footing on the smooth cement floor.

A brief glance over his shoulder confirmed his fear. He was slowing down, and they were catching up. He needed to ditch them, and fast. Jim allowed his armor to vanish as he skidded around another corner, not paying attention to where he was going.

It was a dead end. An out of the way storage room. Pounding feet echoed down the hall after him. They were going to catch up. He looked around desperately, there had to be something he could do, something he could use.

There was an air vent, near the ceiling and directly above some shelves. Jim could climb up to it, and, thanks to Robin’s love of hiding in them, Jim knew these vents were probably big enough to hold him and would be easy to open. But the opening would be far too small for the Krubera to fit more than a single hand in if they were lucky.

Jim started climbing, a small grin pulling at his lips. He was right. The vent was just big enough for Jim to shimmy into and start crawling away. His smile grew wider the farther he went. When he was about five yards in, he heard the Krubera burst into the storage room. They began cursing as Usurna demanded they find him again. Jim resisted the urge to cackle like Robin as he continued crawling through the vents.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *middle school voice* Jim is in trooooubllllleeee~

It was harder to navigate and search thoroughly from the vents, but Jim gave it his best shot. He wanted to rest. Badly. His entire body ached from the strain of running and crawling and fighting and from the blows he had taken from the Krubera’s warhammers.

Jim’s eyes went wide as his hand came down on empty air instead of the smooth metal of the vents. He tipped forward and slid down the vent, bouncing and flying around curves, banging on everything. Finally, he flew out, aching even more and fairly certain he’d broken something as he tumbled and crashed into the ground.

Jim groaned quietly as he pulled himself back up and rested against the wall, glaring up at the now wide-open vent cover.

“Jim?”

Jim leapt to his feet and whipped his head towards the voice. Kaldur stood there, heavily favoring one leg with an arm wrapped around his side, arm lit to allow them to see. Jim slowly glanced around the dark room, using the Amulet as another light source. Robin and Wally were on the ground, barely even conscious as Robin’s breaths rattled in his chest and Wally’s legs bent at odd angles. Artemis sat propped against a wall, arm broken. Rocket was unconscious, her belt sparking, damaged from the fight. M’gann watched blankly from her own corner, blood dripping from her temple, eyes unfocused. Gar lay with a broken leg next to her. Red Tornado was in pieces, only a single arm and his head remained attached to his torso. The worst though, was Zatanna. Jim froze completely when he saw her. She stood in a corner, arms curling in as she hunched protectively over her stomach, pain, fear, and surprise etched onto her face from her last moments before she had been turned to stone.

“Creeper’s Sun,” Jim whispered. He didn’t know who had it, but he had to be careful.

“Mr. Lake.”

Jim startled again, turning to face Kaldur and Red Tornado. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m here. I’m alright.”

The pair was silent for a moment. “What is that?” Kaldur asked, nodding to the Amulet.

Jim hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “We don’t have time for explanations. I will give you one later, but for now just know that it’s important. Clearly, you’re not alright, but is there any way out of here?”

“No,” Kaldur sighed, wincing as he jostled his ribs. “Without power all exits will be completely sealed.”

“There is the entry point they used, if we manage to find it,” Red Tornado offered.

“I doubt we’ll be able to,” Jim answered swiftly. “I’ve been searching since I got here, and I haven’t found anything yet.”

“Even if we could, I doubt we’d be able to safely move everyone. And we would still need to figure out how to get out of this room, as well.” Jim raised an eyebrow at Kaldur. He gestured his arm to the door, which Jim looked at for the first time and winced. It was dented in such a way that even with power it would have been a pain to open.

A sudden thought crossed Jim’s mind and he quickly pulled out his phone.

“You didn’t call for help?” Kaldur asked, clearly disappointed in Jim.

Jim shook his head. “Wouldn’t be able to anyway. No signal.” He put his phone back in his pocket. “We’re on our own.”

“Loss of contact with the Cave will bring the Justice League. We just have to wait,” Kaldur said.

Jim shook his head and began making his way back to the open vent. “How long is that going to take? We can’t rely on them right now. Your entire Team is on the clock, the longer this goes, the more likely it is they won’t even be alive when the League gets here. Give me a boost?”

Kaldur sighed but limped over without further protest. Just before Kaldur lifted him up to the vent, Jim stopped him. “One last thing. Zatanna’s not gone just yet. I have a way to heal her, but she has to be in one piece, so be careful with her.”

Kaldur nodded and lifted Jim. Jim scrambled to find a hand hold, then lifted himself up into the vents.

Jim dropped back down into the hall first chance he got and summoned his armor again. He had hunting to do. This time he managed to get the drop on the group and took one down before disappearing again. He kept using hit and run tactics until he was down to the last guard and Usurna as they stood their ground in the hanger bay. The fight was silent except for grunts of pain and exertion and the scrape of stone and metal on cement. The two Krubera were well versed in fighting together and had no need to talk to communicate their plans, and Jim was well versed in tuning out enemy taunts, so they all stayed silent, preferring not to waste their breath. Jim blocked and dodged and kept himself moving as they two tried to flank him, swinging with a hammer and jabbing with a small knife Jim had no doubt was coated with the deadly Creeper’s Sun. A haze of blue light surrounded Jim’s blade as he finally landed a fatal blow on the soldier.

Jim turned back to Usurna, blocking another jab of her blade and sending it skittering away as a loud pounding echoed through the room. Usurna’s robe and living stone were covered in small nicks and tears from the numerous times Jim had only just barely missed, but he didn’t let himself underestimate her. Jim lunged forward, light encasing the Sword of Daylight as he moved in for the kill. A shower of stone flew from the wall to Jim’s right. The one that separated the Cave from the bay. The Sword of Daylight plunged into Usurna, and her life quickly faded as she turned to K-spar.

“No!” the voice rang through the hanger, and Jim barely had time to register it and begin to turn before he found himself flying across the room while his ribs screamed. He couldn’t see, couldn’t right himself. How fast was he going? The wall had to be coming soon. He summoned his helmet not even a second before he felt himself slam into the wall, breath rushing out of him on one massive gust.

Jim coughed and gasped as he pushed himself up, helmet fading into nothing more than a haze of blue light. He looked up. Who had hit him? The famous blue suit and red cape floated in the air where Jim had been moments before. Superman glared at Jim.

A quick survey as Jim regained his breath showed other Leaguers rushing in through the new opening Superman had made. This was bad. This was really bad. Jim needed backup now, but he couldn’t call on his team and the Team was incapacitated-

If he took them to the Team, that would probably earn him brownie points and then Kaldur could explain the Jim had arrived after the attack started. The only problem was, Jim wasn’t sure where exactly the Team was. Superboy. Jim could take them to Superboy and free him. Superboy probably would appreciate getting away from that kryptonite, too.

“Stay down, son.”

Jim glanced up, pulling himself out of his thoughts. Superman had moved closer but was still keeping his distance. Jim wasn’t sure why but was grateful regardless. That distance gave him just enough time to make it out of the room and keep the chase on his terms. Gave him enough room to avoid being caught.

Jim was pretty sure he was running faster now than he ever had before. Which was odd, because he hadn’t ever wanted to just lay down and give up more than he did right then. But Jim ran anyway. The sharp turns and zigzag path kept Superman from being able to pick up any speed.

When Jim finally made it back to the souvenir room, he didn’t even hesitate. He didn’t stop to look or think. He just launched himself forward, knocking Superboy over and out of the stasis trap.

Superboy groaned, but only went limp. Jim flopped over, rolling off his friend and got up. He wanted to lay there, but he had work to do. He stumbled back to his feet and almost fell back down when his legs gave out. Jim rested on his knees as he carefully picked up each piece of the stasis trap, sparing a glance at Superboy. The kryptonian was pale and covered in a thin film of sweat, making his bruises even more obvious. Jim wasn’t sure if the sickly green color was actually there, or simply the green light from the rock he hadn’t yet touched.

As Jim picked up the last yellow crystal, a black gloved hand broke through his line of sight, causing him to jump. Jim looked up to see Batman glaring down at him, not even looking at the lump of kryptonite as he placed it in a small lead lined box which he placed in his utility belt.

“You,” he growled, “have a lot of explaining to do, Lake.”

Jim winced, but didn’t respond. Instead, both heroes found their attention drawn to pained grumblings from Superman at the door and Superboy behind Jim. They both chose to ignore Superman and focus on the much worse off Superboy. “You doing alright?” Jim asked.

“No,” Superboy ground out.

“He’s bruised,” Superman muttered in awe as he recovered quickly from his brief stint under the kryptonite’s effects. He turned to Jim. “You managed to bruise him!?”

Jim rocked back onto his butt. “What!? No!” he cried. “I never hurt him!”

Superboy managed to push himself up and prop himself against the wall with help from Batman. “He didn’t,” he said. “Those things…”

“Don’t call them things,” Jim cut in. “They’re still people.”

“And you killed them,” Superman pointed out.

Jim rolled his eyes and pulled himself to his feet, stopping to gain his balance before continuing. “We need to find the rest of the Team.” He turned to Superboy for a moment. “Are you going to be alright?”

Superboy nodded but looked like he was going to be sick for a good long while. “Yeah,” he said, taking deep breaths. “Just give me a moment.”

Jim nodded and turned to leave the room. Superman grabbed Jim’s arm. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“You’re right. Because the Zeta’s are offline, power’s still out so the doors are jammed, and the only exit is being guarded by the League. There’s nowhere to go.” Jim brushed Superman’s hand off. “C’mon. Your super hearing will be useful.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *coughs awkwardly* well, better lat than never? I honestly didn't even realize it was Thursday until I was about to sit down to dinner.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
> 
> NoS

Jim left the souvenir room, making his way to the northern side of the Cave. He didn’t know exactly where the Team was, but he did remember they were that way. Superman followed, flagging down a few Leaguers to go with them as they passed them in the halls.

“Do you know where they are?”

Jim didn’t glance over his shoulder at Superman, instead focusing on looking for a dented door. “Sort of. I found them earlier, but I was in the vents at the time.”

Silence pressed down on them as they continued through the halls.

“You look tired.”

Jim stopped and turned this time. He hadn’t remembered the Flash being there. There were more Leaguers there than Jim had remembered. Flash, Canary, Green Arrow, Icon, Captain Marvel, and one of the Green Lanterns were all in the search party now. Jim opened his mouth to give a snarky response when Superman shushed him.

“I hear something,” Superman said as the group froze in their places. Moments ticked by, watching and waiting for Superman to say or do something. “This way!” Superman lifted off and began leading the way.

The group followed him down one corner, then another, then he stopped at a dented door. He waited for only a moment for the others to catch up before tearing the door away. Jim moved forward to help, only to have a hand clamp around his arm again and pull him back.

“Hey!” Jim yelled, glaring back at Captain Marvel as the other heroes continued on their way. “Let me go!” he pulled, trying to free himself from Marvel’s grip.

“Sorry, Jim,” Marvel said, not looking sorry at all as he pulled Jim back and grabbed Jim’s other arm as well, making it harder for Jim to do anything.

Jim thrashed in his grip. “I said, let me go!”

Marvel shook his head from his place behind Jim but said nothing this time. Jim kept thrashing and grunting, but exhaustion was finally taking its toll and his movements rapidly lost their strength.

Jim looked up as he heard movement in the hall in front of him. The Team was being carried out of the room. Mostly by Green Lantern, but the other heroes were pitching in as well. Kaldur had somehow managed to convince them he was okay to walk despite looking almost completely out of it, likely playing on the fact that they had to carry the others. Superman was the last out, carrying Zatanna, her head coming dangerously close to the door frame.

“Be careful!” Jim yelled, stalling the group. “I can help her, but she has to be in one piece. That’s K-spar; it breaks easily.”

Superman watched Jim for second, who had stopped struggling against Marvel. He nodded briefly, then looked up at Marvel. “Bring him with us.”

Marvel nodded and followed, still holding onto Jim. Jim grumbled but put up with it as the emergency lights flickered on around them. That was fast. “How…?” Jim muttered.

“It’s pretty easy to put stuff back together when you have a Lord of Order helping out,” Marvel answered as they entered the med bay.

The infirmary had been left largely untouched, and the Team were all lying on the beds against the far wall. Even Superboy was there, though he looked significantly better than he had the last time Jim had seen him.

“You can put me down, now,” Jim grumbled as he started to struggle a little again.

Captain Marvel hesitated, glancing between Jim and the League members scattered around the room taking care of the Team.

Jim sighed. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I just want you to put me down.”

“If you say so,” Marvel said, shrugging as he put Jim down gently on his feet. “Just… stay out of everyone’s way for now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jim muttered as he looked around to find someplace to sit. Not finding any chairs, Jim decided to lean against the wall instead. When he looked up again, Batman and Superman were walking towards him. “Here we go,” Jim muttered to himself.

Before either of them could say anything, Canary interrupted. “Over here, Jim,” she said, gesturing to an empty bed at the far end. Jim glanced over at Batman, who gestured for Jim to listen to Canary. Jim walked over and sat on the bed, Batman, Superman, and Captain Marvel following.

“Let me see your head,” Canary instructed, “and get rid of that armor.”

Jim pulled a face. “I’m not taking off my armor. Why do you want to look at my head?” The four Leaguers gave Jim a confused and concerned look. “What?”

“You’re bleeding,” Marvel said. “You hit your head.”

Jim blinked at them for a moment and brought his hand up to feel the back of his head where he remembered hitting the side of the vents. The spot stung, and he felt sticky blood under his fingers. Pulling them away with a small wince, Jim looked at his red stained finger tips. “Huh.” He nodded at Canary. “Go ahead.”

Canary picked up her supplies and began checking over the wound and cleaning it.

“You said you could help Zatanna,” Batman said.

“I did.”

“How?” Superman asked. “She’s been turned to stone.”

“Magic,” Jim said bluntly. “Same way she got that way.”

"Then do it.”

Jim rolled his eyes at Batman. “I said I could. I didn’t say I had the materials on me. I just need to make a ca-”

“We’ll get them for you,” Batman interrupted.

“No, you won’t” Jim said. He winced slightly as Canary started wrapping his head in gauze. He pulled out his phone.

Batman grabbed Jim’s wrist and stopped him from dialing. “Yes, we will.”

Jim leveled a look at him. “Do you even know what a Heartstone is, much less where to find one?”

“A what.”

“I rest my case. Now, let me make this call. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

The lights flickered and brightened as full power was restored and the main generator repaired. “Syncing security protocols with Watchtower mainframe.”

Batman glared for another long moment before releasing Jim’s wrist with a nod.

Jim rolled his eyes again and dialed Blinky’s number, waiting patiently.

“Master Jim,” Blinky said when he finally answered. Jim could feel Superboy and Superman’s eyes on him. “We weren’t expecting to hear from you.”

“ _Bad news,_ ” Jim said in his broken Trollish. “ _Krubera attack. Others injured. Had to fight. Need things._ ”

The other end of the line was silent for a long moment. “ _You were attacked by the Krubera?_ ” Blinky asked.

“ _Yes._ ”

“ _Did they see you?_ ”

Jim assumed he meant the Justice League and felt his eyes drawn the brightly colored heroes. “ _Yes._ ”

“ _I suppose you didn’t have much choice, Master Jim,_ ” Blinky sighed. “ _How bad do you think it is?_ ”

Jim thought for a moment. It certainly wasn’t good that the League knew, but he figured it could be worse. They were good people. He could probably get them to see sense. “ _Had worse. Can talk with them._ ”

“ _Can you hold off on that until the council can discuss how much to tell them?_ ”

Jim shot the League another look and winced under Batman’s gaze. “ _Not likely._ ”

Canary finished wrapping Jim’s head and moved on to help with the rest of the Team.

“ _Do what you must, then, but try to keep it to a minimum. Use your best judgement. Now, Master Jim, what do you need?_ ”

Jim had absolutely no idea what the word for cure was. “ _Fix Creeper’s Sun._ ”

Blinky was silent again. “ _We should be able to get the cure to you. I will need to speak with Claire on the matter, and you will have to find someone for the tears on your end. I have it on good authority that Tobias has had his first kiss._ ”

“ _Kiss?_ ” Jim didn’t recognize that word and was fairly certain he’d mangled the pronunciation.

“ _Lips pressing together,_ ” Blinky said by way of explanation.

“Ah,” Jim said, fighting down a grin. He could just imagine Blinky making hand gestures to help illustrate on the other end. He was also proud of Toby for finally moving forward with Darcy.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Blinky spoke up again once it was clear Jim wasn’t going to, “ _Just give us a few minutes to get everything together for you and it’ll be right over. Do you need any back up?_ ”

“ _No. Fight over. Usurna dead._ ”

“ _That is quite the news, Master Jim! But I’d best let you go, now. Take care._ ”

Jim did allow himself to smile this time. “ _Take care, Blinky._ ” He hung up and put the phone away.

“Claire’s involved?” Superboy said, getting up from his bed to walk over.

Jim turned his attention to him. “I doubt I’d have ever been able to keep her out of it.”

Superboy glared. “And you say you ca-”

Jim returned the kryptonian’s gaze with equal heat and stood. “One, believe me, if it were actually better to keep the others out of it, I’d be trying a lot harder. Two, we don’t just let people onto the battlefield if we don’t know for a fact that they can hold their own. Three, aren’t you dating M’gann? There’s also Wally and Artemis and Robin and Zatanna. I’m pretty sure there’s even something between Rocket and Kaldur. I doubt any of them would appreciate the implication that they shouldn’t be letting their partner fight simply because they care.”

Canary came back over, having finished bandaging up the Team and heard Jim’s rant. “Battlefield?” she asked. “Who’s putting you on a battlefield!?” Most of the other Leaguers in the room filed out.

Jim blinked for a moment, mouth trying to form words he couldn’t find. “That’s what you’re concerned about!?” he finally cried. “You put people even younger than me on the battlefield on a regular basis!”

“With adult supervision and training,” Batman interrupted.

Canary nodded in agreement. “The only reason we let them,” she said, “is because we know they can handle it because we taught them.”

“Which we did because we knew we couldn’t stop them,” Batman finished.

Jim shook his head. “After all this, you think I’m just a civilian?” He turned to face Batman, cold amusement filling his voice. “You said it yourself. I have training.”

Superman opened his mouth to respond, but a swirling black mass appeared next to the group. The four Leagues and Superboy all quickly prepared to fight. Jim just chuckled slightly and turned to face it. “Relax,” he said, “It’s just a portal. A small one at that.”

Superman sent Jim a confused glance, which morphed into understanding when a small package flew through the black mass and landed at Jim’s feet. Jim stooped down to pick it up, just as more items fell out of the portal. Captain Marvel yanked him back just in time to keep him from being hit in the head with an iron stand. Moments later a staff made of a dark material with a pronged end slowly came through, a heavy iron pot filled with something hanging from the end. Jim pulled himself out of Marvel’s grip and stepped forward, armor clanking. He carefully lifted the pot off the staff and moved it onto the ground.

“We’re going to need to put everything over by Zatanna’s bed,” Jim instructed.

Superman took the pot from him, glancing inside. The dark liquid filled the pot, moving slowly inside as it tipped and… it didn’t slosh, but it would be sloshing if it were thinner. “What is this?”

“Oil,” Jim said, picking up the bag of materials while Canary set up the stand at the end of Zatanna’s bed. “I’m also going to need a heat source and someone who hasn’t ever been kissed before.”

Superman set the pot on the stand. “What?” Batman asked.

Jim shrugged. “I just need their tears. Don’t ask.”

Batman nodded and tapped his communicator. “Flash, go get a small camping stove” He turned to look at Marvel, the others following his lead. Jim had no idea why they seemed to think Marvel could help.

“What?” Marvel asked.

“Tears,” Batman said, bluntly.

“Oh, right. Yeah, I can help with that.”

Jim raised an eyebrow, but then just shook his head and said nothing, turning his attention back to the bag of supplies. A sharp bark of laughter escaped his mouth. Jim then pulled something out of the bag and tossed it to Marvel. “Just in case,” he said with a wink, still holding back laughter.

Marvel glanced down. He was holding an onion. He couldn’t help laughing himself when he saw it. With that, the atmosphere seemed to lighten, and the others began to crack smiles and chuckle slightly as well.

Then the Flash ran in, a blur of red. “Here you go,” he said. “One camping stove, as ordered.”

Jim nodded and grabbed the item, setting it up beneath the pot of oil. The moment was gone, everyone returning to the work at hand. Jim lit the small gas flame. He turned to the others. “This is only going to turn stone back to flesh, any injuries will be exactly as they were when she was stabbed. She’ll probably be disoriented and confused, as well.”

Canary nodded and grabbed Superman, pulling him away to gather medical supplies. When they came back, Jim continued. “After I put everything in the pot, there’s going to be a lot of smoke. Once it clears it’s only going to take a moment or two for her to change back.” He turned to Marvel. “The tears go in last.” Marvel nodded, and Jim turned back to the pot, putting in item after item. Jim wrinkled his nose and was forced to move quickly to keep the League from stopping him from putting the live mouse in the pot, but he managed it. He swore he could hear Batman’s teeth grinding from the back of the group. After he put in the small Heartstone chunk, which got a surprised look from Superboy, he nodded to Marvel. Marvel promptly broke open the onion and stepped up to the pot, while Jim stepped back.

The tear fell, landing in the boiling concoction. A billow of blue smoke filled the air, making everyone cough. Moments later, the smoke disappeared, pulled back into the pot. Jim bent down and turned off the flame. Seconds ticked by. Patches of skin became visible, spreading rapidly. The stone receding with a slight blue glow at the edges.

Zatanna coughed, then screamed and thrashed. _“Hsup meht kcab!”_

A harsh force pushed at everyone, but it petered out almost as soon as it started, effectively only knocking them slightly off balance. Superman quickly grabbed onto her. “It’s alright!” he yelled, attempting to hold her still without hurting her. “You’re safe, now! It’s over!”

Jim lurched forward, grabbing onto Zatanna’s legs as they kicked out. Canary opened up Zatanna’s shirt and started wiping away the blood, trying to get a good look at the wound. Batman darted to the side, opening up a cabinet. The others stood awkwardly to the side, trying to stay out of the way.

“How do you calm them down!?” Superboy yelled, trying to find something he could do to help.

“Hell if I know!” Jim yelled back, struggling to hold Zatanna’s legs still. “We’ve only used this once and I wasn’t exactly there!”

“What!?”

“Batman!”

“Here!”

Jim forced himself not to jump or flinch when he realized Batman was right next to him. He needed to hold Zatanna still. Batman leaned forward and grabbed one of her pinned arms, carefully and quickly slipping a needle into it and pushing down on the plunger. Slowly, Zatanna’s movements slowed and her thrashing got weaker and weaker, until she passed out. Jim sighed in relief and released his hold on her legs, Superman doing the same for her arms while Canary set to work quickly cleaning and patching Zatanna up as best she could.

Once she was done and cleaned up, she turned back to the gathered heroes. Before she could say anything, Superboy spoke up. “Alright, start talking.”

“I would prefer to explain it to the entire Team at once. Save us a lot of talking,” Jim answered.

“No, I want answers,” Superboy said, taking a step closer to Jim. “You may have saved me, but from the looks of it, you’re the reason this happened in the first place.”

“And you still haven’t said anything about why you killed them,” Superman put in.

Jim sighed. “I stand by what I said. I will explain, but I’d rather only have to do it once. You know where to find me and how to reach me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Let’s take this somewhere else,” Canary interrupted. “The Team needs to rest.”

Everyone glanced over at the unconscious figures. Batman nodded. “Let’s go.”


	30. Chapter 30

The group quickly left the medical bay, herding Jim along with them, stopping in a repaired side room to talk. Superman and Captain Marvel settled near the door to watch, letting Batman and Canary handle this.

“Have a seat, Jim,” Canary offered, gesturing to a chair.

Jim shook his head. “I’ll stand, thanks.”

“Jim,” Canary crossed her arms, “you are exhausted. You fought for I don’t know how long, and you’re definitely injured. Now, sit.”

Jim didn’t move. “Just bruised,” he muttered.

Superman raised an eyebrow. “After the hit you took, you’re ‘just bruised’? I don’t think so.”

Jim snorted. “The armor can take a hit like that.”

“Enough beating around the bush,” Superboy growled taking a step forward. “Who were they and what did they want?”

“Sit down, Superboy,” Jim said, once again gesturing to the chair. “You’re looking a bit pale. I doubt you’ve fully recovered from the kryptonite.”

“I’m fine.”

“Suit yourself, but if you fall down, don’t blame me.”

“Just answer the damn question.”

“They were soldiers of the Krubera, led by Queen Usurna. They wanted to kill me.”

“How did they know you would be here?” Batman growled.

“I don’t know.”

“I’m not buying that anymore. You’ve lied to us too many times. Who did you tell about the Cave?”

“Only people I trust. I know my allies,” Jim said. “Even the ones that weren’t my allies in the beginning have my complete trust. They threw their lot in with me. They don’t benefit from my death and would have much easier ways of getting rid of me if they somehow came to the conclusion that they needed to. No one else heard a word.”

“Clearly someone found out,” Superboy replied.

Jim rolled his eyes. “Obviously, but that doesn’t mean I know who or how. The only- Oh.”

“What?” Canary jumped in, trying to defuse some of the tension. “What is it?”

“There’s literally only one person who could have. I should have known better.”

“Let me guess,” Superboy drawled. “Dave Steele.”

Jim nodded lips pressed into a thin line. “Yeah. He’ll be long gone by now.”

“Dave Steele?” Batman asked.

“He runs a small magic shop in town. Mostly cheap junk, but there’s some real stuff in there, too. Jim’s done business with him,” Superboy answered, keeping his eyes on Jim.

“So, you told him?”

Jim shook his head. “I never told him anything, but I was with the Team when I first met him. His type has a habit of knowing things they shouldn’t. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he already knew the Cave was in use even before then, he just didn’t know I was there.”

“What do you mean by knowing things they shouldn’t?” Superman asked from his place by the door.

“They came prepared to take on the Team and, most likely, the League if they had to. And I can promise you right now, that was far from the last of their kryptonite.”

Superman went pale. “How much do they have?”

Jim shrugged. “I’d have to ask around, but I know they have a lot.”

“Why?”

Jim turned his attention back to Batman. “Precaution. You never know what you’re going to need or who you’re going to go up against, and going against the Justice League was… highly probable. At the time.”

“Let’s bring this back a bit,” Canary interrupted again. “The details are all well and good, but I want to know about the bigger picture. Where do you fit in all of this?”

“What should we be calling you?” Batman added on.

Jim frowned at him. “Um, call me Jim?”

“He means your codename,” Superboy said. “Your designation. What do people call you when you wear the armor?”

“Oh,” Jim said, laughing slightly. “Still just Jim. I don’t have any codenames or anything like that. A few titles, but no codenames. No secret identity.”

The room fell silent. The heroes that relied so heavily on secret identities to keep themselves and their families safe, to maintain some semblance of normalcy, didn’t know what to think. It didn’t make any sense. Here they were hiding behind masks and this kid they’d never heard of didn’t even have a pseudonym.

“Let’s try something a bit simpler,” Canary said, breaking the silence. “Superman had a point when he said you never answered him about killing the Krubera. That’s a pretty big deal.”

Jim’s head bowed slowly a soft sigh leaving his nose. “There aren’t a ton of options for me. I had no way to contain them or transport them to trial or a holding cell or prison or wherever afterwards. They came prepared, as I said. I couldn’t simply run and hide and leave you to your fates, even if there was someplace I could go when I was trapped in a building they were tearing apart. The options were kill or be killed, and I don’t want to die. Not yet.”

“You shouldn’t have to be thinking about that.”

Jim looked up at Canary, a small, sad smile tugging at his lips. “Maybe so. But that doesn’t change the reality.” He shrugged. “I’ve come to terms with it.”

“Why didn’t you talk to us?” Batman asked, voice softening.

Jim looked surprised for a moment before answering. “Two reasons,” he said. “The big one is that it wasn’t mine to say. Yeah, I’m involved, and I’m important, but I’d be one of the least affected by you finding out. The other part is that it’s literally in the job description. Keep the secret and keep the worlds separate. I can’t do that by running my mouth.”

There was another long bout of silence as the heroes processed what Jim had said before Batman sighed again. “You can go home,” he said as Jim grinned a million-watt smile, “but you will come back next week to explain in full.”

Jim nodded. “That’s fair. They might decide there are somethings they still don’t want you to know, but I’ll just refuse to answer if that’s that case. Oh, and keep this off record, will you?”

“And why should we do that?”

“Your security systems have been shown to be… not that great. Things would be beyond just screwed if the wrong people found out.”

“Get more specific,” Superboy growled.

“The older they are, and the more contact they had with the magical community at the right time, the more likely it is that they already know some things. I’d be a walking dead man if someone like Klarion found out about me and those I protect. So, as I said; keep this off the record.”

Batman nodded. “We will.”

Jim smiled back and left the room, making his way towards the Zeta Tubes. As he walked, he allowed the armor to fade from his body, leaving only his casual clothes. He glanced around at the repaired walls. He almost couldn’t tell they had been damaged, but there were still cracks and holes from time to time, likely places Doctor Fate hadn’t gotten to just yet. When he stepped into the mission room, Fate was there, waiting for him.

Jim hesitated at the edge of the room, unsure of what to do. He knew it was customary to kneel in the presence of a wizard, and Fate was well beyond just a wizard, but at the same time he was in a Justice League base, and he wasn’t sure he’d even be able to get back up if he knelt right now.

“At ease, Trollhunter,” Fate spoke. “You do not need to kneel to me. I have long since grown used to the new customs of this time.”

Jim sighed in relief and took a few more steps in. “I suppose you were waiting for me.”

“Indeed. You can trust them, Hunter. They will not betray you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about and you know it. I know they aren’t going to betray me. Not intentionally. They’re good people. But more people knowing means a greater chance of mistakes, and the longer I’m around them, the more likely I’ll be drawn into their problems. Which will increase the odds of someone I’m really worried about noticing. But you knew all that. You are a Lord of Order after all.”

“That is all true. I merely sought to offer you some comfort. My host has made me more aware of how… difficult it is for young heroes. And how difficult it is for their mentors. I imagine your position would be worse, seeing as you didn’t properly get to choose.”

Jim paused, and let that sink in. “Thanks,” he said, starting forward again. Dear god everything hurt so much. At least he could still walk.

“I will be sending the bodies to your training ground. I will also make sure Batman follows his word and does not put the new information in their database.”

Jim paused again, looking over his shoulder at the gold clothed sorcerer. “I- Thanks. Just… thanks. I- I should go home and get some rest now. I’ll probably be sore for a couple weeks.” Jim gave an awkward laugh. Fate only nodded and left to continue his work repairing the Cave.

Jim shook his head slightly, reminding himself that if he just got home, he could collapse on his nice soft bed and not move until someone came to wake him up. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen for a few days at least. Jim stepped into the Zeta Tube, letting the bright light surround him and break him into a million itty bitty pieces to be shot across the country and put together on the other side.

 

* * *

 

The week Jim had to get the council to see sense and give him almost full reign with what he could and couldn’t say almost hadn’t been enough. Eventually, Blinky managed to convince them by pointing out that while Jim had made mistakes in the past, he had always fixed them, and that Jim knew the Justice League better than anyone by now. Changelings might now more in terms of sheer volume, but that was all tactical information. Jim actually _knew_ them. Even then, there were a few things he couldn’t say. Things about Trollmarket and other settlement were completely off limits for the council and Trollmarket’s peace of mind.

So, here Jim was a week later, still sore but definitely better than the week before, sitting in the Cave’s kitchen with the Team and most of their mentors sitting around him. Wally, surprisingly enough, wasn’t in a wheelchair. Something about super speed coming with super healing. The others were all sitting around in varying amounts of bandages (and Robin actually was in a wheel chair) and Gar was… greener than the last time Jim had seen him. Jim wasn’t going to ask about that.

“So, where should I start?” Jim asked.

The conversation took several hours with a lot of back tracking when Jim tried to skip over things or simply forgot to say something as they jumped from topic to topic as Jim tried to answer all of the questions as they were asking and failed to clarify what he thought of as a small detail, but they considered a highly concerning statement. In particular, none of them liked the idea of Jim having to kill people and often tried to bring it up again to argue against it until Jim snapped at them. They dropped it rather quickly after that.

Finally, questions were done, and Batman only had one question left. “Everything seems to be in order. You have things under control and there is no reason for the Justice League to interfere. So, what happens next?”

Jim frowned at him.

“Will you cut ties? Or do you want to stay in contact with the Team and the League?” Robin clarified.

“Oh.” Jim shrugged. “I definitely can’t actually work with you, but you guys are still friends. I’d rather keep visiting, if that’s alright with you guys. I doubt any of my enemies are going to strike here again, seeing how this one played out.”

Batman nodded, and everyone began to disperse quicker than Jim had expected. Most of the League members left after a quick goodbye to their protégé, and Jim slipped out of the room for a moment to just breath and relax now that the hard part was done.

“Jim?”

Jim twitched, and his muscles tensed. Breath in… and out. He turned to face Canary, heart still racing. A strained smile left his teeth slightly bared rather than the gentle grin he’d been hoping for. “Canary, what’s up?”

Canary leaned against the wall opposite Jim. “A few things were on my mind, from back when Claire was possessed.” Jim nodded for her to continue. “The portal that opened to send you the ingredients for that cure you made, Zatara saw something like it when he was working on a case around the time Claire disappeared.”

Jim’s lips pressed into a thin line. “The Dallas case. I overheard you two talking about it when he first brought Zatanna to visit,” he explained when he saw her surprised look. “Yeah, it’s related. Claire stole a powerful magical artifact from one of our enemies a while ago. The Skathe Hrün, also known as the Shadow Staff. It has a number of abilities, but the only one we really use is its ability to open portals anywhere Claire has an emotional anchor. Usually that means she either knows the place well or there’s someone there she cares about.” Jim sighed. “It’s also a rather dark artefact and using it has had consequences, but it’s not anything Claire regrets. Specifically, it corrupted her soul. Dr. Fate fixed and put protections and barriers in place to keep it from happening again. That answer your question?”

Canary nodded. “One more thing.”

“Go on.”

Canary hesitated, thinking over her words carefully. “It is… highly unlikely that you haven’t been affected by what you’ve been through, and I don’t doubt that you lied about a wide variety of things while talking to me both to hide your secrets and to hide how much you were hurting. Just… I want you to know my door is always open. If you need to talk, or if you want to set up formal sessions with me, it doesn’t matter. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Jim nodded. “Yeah, I- I probably do need therapy if I’m being honest. I’ve managed to cope so far, but…” Jim shrugged again. “Let me think about it.”

Canary nodded and gave him a soft smile. “That’s all I ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's a wrap.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed the ride, and I hope the ending met your expectations. For this chapter, I want you guys to comment three words that come to mind for this fic. You can explain it, or just send me the words. Or you can just ignore this and do what you want in the comments.
> 
> You can always send me an ask on my [tumblr](nerdofspades.tumblr.com).
> 
> Thank you for all of your love and support during this very long journey,  
> NoS


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